Torment of Rebirth
by Aria52
Summary: Every fate can end differently so each person has infinite possibilities. Emiya Shirou's story is particularly interesting. Let's explore the possibilities of Archer if unexpected circumstances lead to another hero in the war being summoned that he knew in his life. This story explores both how they know eachother in life and how they interact after death. Rated M for safety, no OC
1. Prologue-Story of the First Archer

**I am going to start by saying this. If you don't like stories that can be confusing or involve character death, walk away. This is based off of Fate/Stay Night(The game, the manga, and the anime) which gives me the unique opportunity to tell two stories for a single character and have one influence the other(Which those who read my stories regularly know that I love to do, this just gives me a real reason to tie them together). Not to mention to have these two stories I have to have a third as a backstory for the Archer in the first one(seen below). Also, I will be altering some Servant stories slightly, they won't change completely, but it will be little details.**

**The first story-at least chronologically and not including the one below-is **_Archer's Torment _**this uses the Archer that I will be describing below. It is the story of the Archer in the second story and how he has become the version of himself that he is. It will also be telling the story of Assassin as she appears in the second story(Who is not an OC) and may eventually be how you find out who she is(I haven't decided how to share that one yet). The Holy Grail War in this one may pass rapidly because the true interesting part of the story lies afterwards.**

**The second story is **_Assassin's Rebirth_**. It is the story taking the characters from the first into the war. This is where the fun really happens and is the story I truly want to tell. I just can't tell it without telling you the first. As there is a new(ish) character it will change the events quite a bit.**

Emiya Shirou lay dying. Each breath was harder and harder to take; the thirty-eight year old man was losing the drive to even try. As he reflected upon his life, Shirou could only think of one thing.

He missed his family.

They weren't a typical family, not by a longshot. But they were his. When on the subject of family, his first thought goes to his father, but Shirou had long accepted his death. Second thought goes to his sister. The small girl had actually been eighteen when she gave her life to save his soul. The body he was in now wasn't even his second. Ilya had granted him a second life using the third magic-Heaven's Feel-to place his soul into a temporary body. His current body was a puppet they found after that.

Next his mind went to his former idol, Tohsaka Rin. She had been one of the greats, having just been offered a position as the head of the Department of Mineralogy in the Clock Tower before everything went wrong.

Rider. The one Servant that stayed, powered-like he himself had been-by her former Master. The Servant had enjoyed her second life, reading every book she could get her hands on and drinking when she felt like it.

And of course, Sakura. His love. The woman who had changed him in ways he never thought possible, the one he had abandoned his cause for. Shirou wanted nothing more than to go back and save her from her fate. If he understood correctly, that was exactly what he was going to do.

Yet, even now he felt the draining of his emotions, the dulling The World had granted him when he had been at his worst.

The accident.

Sakura had too much mana, her circuits were constantly creating more so she could handle it all. The circuits were tearing her apart. Rin came up with a solution she had only read about.

Transplanting magical circuits. Rider and Shirou were so used to her mana there should have been no problem during the process.

They were wrong.

Shirou-as someone whose magical circuits were not really within his 'body' had no problem receiving his share, but when Rider attempted to pull some it conflicted with the circuits within her body and offset both Rider's and Sakura's mana. Combined, the unstable mana killed everything unfamiliar within a ten meter radius, Shirou as someone who had just received the magical circuits that caused the crisis in the first place was unharmed. But the two women hadn't survived the explosion of mana from within them.

Shirou had been so lost in his grief over losing everyone close to him-both physically and emotionally-that when The World offered to remove his pain, he agreed instantly. Since then whenever Shirou felt any emotion it stayed for a few minutes before fading away.

After that with his nearly limitless mana from Sakura's circuits, Shirou decided to go back to his original goal of being an ally of justice. The more Shirou fought for the innocent, the more he had to kill. But he never felt bad about it for long. As Shirou continued to project, his body started to change.

That was when he realized who Archer had been. All the other hints and he didn't notice until his hair had turned white and his skin darkened. Inside of him, hope had sparked. Shirou found what was left of Zouken's notes and studied them all he could. The monstrous creature was gone for good but if he could do it before Sakura had to suffer then it would all be worth it.

As time went by Sakura's magical circuits started to fade, making it harder and harder for Shirou to continue.

And as Emiya Shirou died, one thought went through his mind before the end.

'_I can save them all._'

**For those who checked this from the start I'm restructuring a bit. One big paragraph seems dull so I rewrote this as a prologue and the first chapter is going to be the original chapter here. Just in case you're paying attention to it outside of any follows I'm gonna add the second chapter as well.**


	2. Chapter 1 Unexpected Changes

**As I stated before, reworking story structure a bit(If you want to see an actual story version of first Archer's background read the prologue). Which brings me to a question. As you're reading think about this, do you like how I am doing the chapters? Are they too long, too short? Do you like the perspective shifts? Do you think I should make each perspective shift an individual chapter? I won't change the first chapter again, but still, it may help in the future if long chapters get to you. Also considering that I wrote chapter one in two hours and chapter two in three when I actually got to sitting down and writing them, I might be able to release multiple chapters a day if I have proper motivation and do perspective chapters but then I wouldn't be able to check between the certain perspectives for tie-ins to make it more fun.  
**

**Stuff to consider, except for the authors notes(and a bit of changing things to past tense I forgot to make past tense as I was typing) this is exactly the same as it had been, so go ahead to chapter two if you already read it.**

**Torment of Rebirth**

Chapter 1

Unexpected Changes

_Archer's Torment_

_Sakura's Perspective_

Sakura watched as her body moved on its own. Words unspoken came from her lips and movements unbidden cut her finger. Her left hand raised a stone snake, said to have belonged not to a hero, but to an Epic Spirit nonetheless. It was a token of the mortal Gorgon. While the sisters did not truly have snake hair as was legend, a snake was the first to fall under her cursed gaze. She kept the snake as a reminder.

Sakura allowed the worm within her to control her. She was used to this, and her grandfather declared that she was untrustworthy to perform the summoning herself so it was easy to allow him to take over. The sensations were familiar and allowed Sakura to fall into what was closest to a relaxed state for her, uncaring about the situation, unneeded to control her disgusting body, and unconcerned about the views of those around her. She knew what her brother and her grandfather thought of her and there was no need to wonder if she could change it. It was obvious she couldn't.

A red glow surrounded her as her grandfather released his puppet. Sakura fell to her knees onto the familiar stone floor. The creatures of the Maikiri, the bugs she knew so well started to swarm for her, to say hello with their 'love bites' until black boots appeared before her and they scattered.

"Are you my Master?" The beautiful woman asked. Sakura stared in awe of the woman who felt so similar to her and yet was obviously more confident. But she never got the chance to really observe this woman.

"She is, for the moment." Sakura's grandfather answered for her, "Do as we discussed, child. It cannot be done while I am in control of you." Sakura nodded blankly and turned to the bugs. She called two over and they hesitantly came. They had no problem with what Sakura wanted them for; they just didn't want to be close to the woman.

One creature in each hand, Sakura held her palms together. Her left hand glowed. The woman knelt down, understanding what was going on.

"So long as your life is not in danger, I shall obey whoever owns this book." She spoke the words for her Master, knowing the girl may not know how to say the command to her advantage. This way if Sakura was in danger, she could take care of the girl-preventing her from disappearing as a result of the girl's death-and if Sakura decided she wanted to give the book to someone other than the original 'master' she had in mind then she could but ownership would not change if it was taken forcefully.

Sakura closed her hands as the book appeared; on its cover was a command seal with three points. Shinji rushed over-he didn't have to worry about the bugs because of Rider-and snatched the book from Sakura's hands.

"Finally! Took you long enough, whore. Now I finally have what's rightfully mine." Suddenly the Servent regretted agreeing to obey him, "Tell me your class, servant." Shinji demanded.

"Rider." She answered and Shinji grinned.

"Well then, Rider. I think it's time for some….training." His lecherous grin really made Rider regret agreeing to obey.

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Sakura's Perspective_

Sakura watched as her body moved on its own. Words unspoken came from her lips and movements unbidden cut her finger. Her left hand raised a stone snake, said to have belonged not to a hero, but to an Epic Spirit nonetheless. It was a token of the mortal Gorgon. While the sisters did not truly have snake hair as was legend, a snake was the first to fall under her cursed gaze. She kept the snake as a reminder.

Sakura felt her body jerking along with her grandfather's wishes. The worm in her heart spreading the feeling that her body was corroding from the inside out. Not for the first time she wished that she could be free of her disgusting 'family'.

Suddenly something squirmed in Sakura's hand. Her eyes were drawn to the stone snake and red eyes met purple, promising a path of peace.

Well, at least peace for the tormented girl. Her grandfather seemed offended by the change.

It happened in a second. The snake twisted out of her controlled hand, landed on the circle, and suddenly there was a white flash.

The next second there was a dagger in Shinji's head, Sakura's grandfather exploded into his mass of squirming bugs, the servant placed a hand on Sakura's chest, and there was a flash of yellow light accompanied by thousands of screams-one of which echoed through her entire being.

Everything went black.

When Sakura woke up she was in her 'room' the one she had for appearance's sake. The cushy bed with soft sheets.

Her strange Servant sat at the end of her bed.

"W-What happened?" Sakura asked the strange Servant.

"Forgive me, Master, I took action without your command." The Servant didn't look at all sorry.

"What did you do?" Sakura managed to sound somewhat firm. About as firm as someone else weakly requesting something, but for Sakura that was a huge leap.

"I removed those in the immediate vicinity who desired harm for you and neutralized the curse I found within you that was placed there only to harm you." Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what the Servant meant. The Servant killed Shinji and her grandfather, even to the point of destroying the worm within her. As the Servant waited for her response, Sakura sat up, realizing how much lighter she felt without that creature restricting her.

"How?" Was all she managed to get out.

"A blast of Holy light is all that was necessary to destabilize the dark familiars, I just centered it on the curse gently then shot the light through your body to remove remnants and expand to the room around you. The room has been purged of the vile aura it once held." Sakura stared at the woman, unsure of how to react.

"I didn't believe the Gorgon Medusa could use Holy Light." She decided to find out what happened first.

"I am not a Gorgon, Master." Her Servant informed her simply.

"I don't want to be a Master, I don't want to fight. I was going to have nii-san….." Sakura trailed off. Her brother was dead. There wasn't anyone she could give her servant to. She would have to kill people.

"I promise that if you wish it, I will kill no more humans. I only wish to help you, Master." Sakura looked at her Servant, really looked at the woman.

Though she wasn't standing, she seemed as if she was about two inches taller than Sakura with similar proportions. Her hair was black and tied to the side of her head, the strands turned red where they laid on the bed but only for a couple inches meaning that it would typically go down about as far as her thighs. Her eyes shifted colors as Sakura watched them, one moment green the next blue, and her face was covered by a simple purple mask with red lace around the edges. She wore a corset-top that was red with black lace over it and snapped up the front-the bottom up to just above her belly button was unsnapped-and had one inch straps holding it up as well as black gloves that went up to her elbows. A simple black mini skirt sat on her hips and she wore fishnet thigh-high stockings that tied at the top. Simple black heels and a red leather anklet with purple grommets all around finished the look.

"What Servant are you?" Sakura asked her. The woman had no armor, no apparent weapons, and the mask was just plain odd.

"I am Servant Assassin, Master. I am yours to command." Assassin smiled in a way that seemed caring yet vindictive at the same time.

_Archer's Torment_

_Rin's Perspective_

Rin stared in the direction of the archery dojo. Why did it have to be _those two_ of all people?

Here she was, having a _normal_ battle at her _normal_ school in the _dead of night_ why were they here?

"Rin?" She turned to her Archer. He was waiting for her command like a good Servant. There seemed to be a slight agitation in his typically emotionless voice but she wasn't worried about that.

The rules said that anyone who saw had to be killed. Lancer had even abandoned the fight to chase after the witnesses. But she had seen the purple and red hair clearly. Those two. Why those two?

"Follow Lancer. Do what you can for them, but the main priority is finding his master." Archer nodded at her words-though he wore a scowl-and immediately ran after Lancer.

Rin followed after, hoping against hope that they would be okay.

To her surprise, she started to hear the sounds of a fight. Maybe Archer had reached them in time. As she continued to run she heard shattering glass and then silence. Panic coursing through her veins, Rin got to the top floor and slid around the corner to find…..a broken window. There wasn't even a smear of blood. She stopped and looked around, only now noticing how hard her heart was pounding.

"Where did they….?" Rin trailed off, deciding not to waste breath on talking to thin air.

If Lancer was driven off then he would most likely go back for them once he could. Those two, did they split up or leave together? Knowing the girl she would probably stay by his side.

Emiya household it is.

_'Archer, keep following Lancer. I'm going to Emiya's house since I think he may go there. If you lose him meet up with me immediately.'_ She sent the message to her servant then jumped over the railing of the stairs one side after the other to cut her time running down them in half.

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Rin's Perspective_

Tohsaka Rin was not having a good day. At two in the morning-wait, make that one, stupid clocks-she attempted to summon the strongest servant. A Saber. What she got was a destroyed living room-admittedly it's all been fixed already…somehow-an insolent Servant-also fixed but she had to use a precious command spell-and an Archer. Archer wasn't the worst class to get-she could have gotten an assassin-but the guy didn't even remember his name. How could she fight alongside someone who didn't even know how they fought? Not to mention, she was a long distance fighter, Archer was obviously a long distance fighter, how could they work well together? At least he made an excellent cup of tea.

"So tell me, Archer. Can you tell where the other Servants are?" Rin asked, enjoying the smell of her tea.

"Master, have you forgotten my class? Seeing distant enemies isn't a job for a knight." The Servant made a good point, as an Archer he wouldn't have a strong enough magical ability to sense others. His only job was to see far enough to shoot his enemies. Rin briefly wondered how far that would have to be.

"All right. Then, follow me, Archer. I'll show you the world you have been summoned into." Rin decided, looking at her tea in regret. But she did just say she'd show him around…

"I don't think it will be that new for me." Archer stated with an amused tone, his expression seemed smug, "But, Master, aren't you forgetting something important?" The way Archer said this implies it is the most obvious thing in the world but it seemed sad somehow.

"Hm? What do you mean by something important?" Rin asked, still focused on her tea. The aroma was mesmerizing.

"Geez. You're really not up to par yet. We have yet to exchange the most important part of our contract." Archer showed annoyance yet seemed amused, as if he were expecting this.

"The most important exchange….?" Rin repeated after him, still not processing it.

"…You're really not a morning person, are you?" Archer asked as if it were information he were given but didn't believe.

"….Ah. Crap….names." Rin realized it as she realized that Archer had called her nothing but 'you' or 'master'.

"I guess you've realized. Well, it's not too late. So Master, what is your name? How shall I address you from now on?" Archer was genuinely interested. As a Master and a Servant, names were unnecessary, but his desire to know her name meant that he actually was interested in working side by side with her instead of feeling he was forced to work with her.

"I'm Tohsaka Rin. You can call me whatever you like." Rin informed him. She truly didn't expect Archer to call her anything other than what he had been, but she was just being formal.

"…Rin….Ah, that's the name." Archer muttered quietly to himself, his tone filled for once with caring and regret as he reached into his pocket. Then he turned to her, "I shall call you Rin. Yes, the name suits you well."

_Archer's Torment_

_Shirou's Perspective_

Shirou was preparing tea. Of all of the things he could have been doing, he was preparing tea. Sure, the day started out as any other. He got up, ate breakfast with Sakura and Fuji-nee, went to school, helped the Student Council fix some broken TVs using a bit of magic….then as he was leaving he ran into Shinji.

He and Shinji used to be best friends, they spoke rarely now though. Shinji had asked him to help clean up the archery dojo. Apparently the boy had already sent someone to do it but claimed he was 'being nice' by sending that person help-in the form of Shirou-because he claimed they were incompetent-every now and then Shirou had to resist the urge to punch him in his smug face. Turned out the person there was Sakura. The two cleaned the dojo-it was so spotless that they could eat off the floor-and were just heading out when suddenly there was a clash of red and blue.

Shirou couldn't help but freeze, staring not at the fighters but the weapons. That blood red spear that he could see the curse radiating off of. The name Gae Bolg had come to mind before his eyes were drawn away. The twin swords of love and grief called to him. They just looked _right_.

Shirou shook his head. Even the memory was captivating. Soon after that the battle had stopped and they ran. The two had managed to get to the top floor before the blue one caught up. He still didn't know what saved them. All he saw was a flash of purple and he heard metal against metal before the window broke. After that the two were suddenly on the ground and they bolted to his house.

His reminiscing was cut off by a crash.

"Sakura?" Shirou rushed to the bathroom where she had gone to try and cool down. He knocked on the door, "Sakura, are you okay?" He waited a second with no response, "Sakura, if you don't say something, I'm coming in." No response. He opened the door to find his underclassmen on the floor. Her whole body was pale and she was sweating, "Sakura?" He had no idea what to do. He had to call an ambulance but he couldn't leave her alone.

"Senpai?" Shirou almost sighed in relief. Then he saw her eyes open. They were completely bloodshot.

That was all he saw before the lights shut off and the alarm started ringing.

"Senpai, what's going on?" Sakura asked, trembling slightly. Shirou couldn't tell if it was from fear or whatever caused her to fall.

"Stay here, lock the door behind me, and whatever you do, stay conscious." He looked around before pulling the loose towel rack off the wall and leaving. He didn't even notice Sakura's protests.

Once he got out the door he muttered his incantation to himself, strengthening the metal bar as he made his way outside to find a better weapon. He holds the towel rod like a sword, being careful of corners when suddenly the guy in blue drops from the ceiling. Shirou rolls out of the way, his head colliding with a wooden piece of furniture. He jumps up with his improvised weapon, only slightly dizzy from the head-wound.

"…You're causing unnecessary troubles. I was being considerate by killing you before you noticed me." He raised his lance again, seeming uninterested, "How did you even get one to defend you? You're not a Master, you're just a kid." Shirou edged his way backwards. Four meters to the door, just under twenty to the shed. Maybe he could…. "See ya kid, nothing to jump in and save you now." Shirou realized he had no chance against this man and decided to try and make a run for it. He threw the towel rod at the man in blue who deflected it as if uninterested. In the meantime, Shirou ran, "Seriously kid, what do you think can…" The man had started walking forward but was stopped by having to deflect another projectile-and this one wasn't an improvised weapon.

The man in red was right in front of Shirou, another white sword appearing in his outstretched arm.

"Run kid, before my Master changes her mind." The red man announced. Shirou didn't need another warning. He ran straight past the man and for the shed. Shirou ignored the passion in the blue man's voice and just focused on finding some form of weapon for himself. When he finally made it to the shed, Shirou stumbled, only now realizing how lightheaded he felt. He used his hand to check where he had hit his head and it came back red.

Then the blue man was in front of Shirou, spear raised as if he were going to throw into it. The next few moments were only sensations that Shirou couldn't put together.

"Gae"

Draining

White flash to the left

"Archer, guard him"

Red flash in front

"Bolg"

And the image of Tohsaka Rin directly behind the blue man with a red spear through her heart.

**I did warn you there was character death XD**

**So, I have a good idea of where I want Rebirth to go and I know the general flow of Torment but I would love suggestions, especially since I have no idea how I want it to end  
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**Now, because I know you didn't know what happened to Rin for the Archer in the conversation in Rebirth, I wrote that in mind with Archer being a Shirou who never met the real Rin and only knew her through the stories of those around her-including Sakura's memories as a kid and what the Archer he knew mentions about her-I hope I portrayed that well**

**Also, if it isn't obvious, I'm not giving character descriptions really. We all know what the characters of Fate/Stay Night look like and no one wants to sit through reading those descriptions twice. The only character I did describe is the one you wouldn't know what she looks like.**

**I know my writing style is awkward. It's past tense and focused on a certain person's perspective but isn't actually first person so if I need to put in a detail that the character doesn't notice I can easily put it in. This is the style I'm best at, I'm just happy I'm not doing what I usually do and start the perspective on one person then transition to another they run into then follow that second person to a third one.**

**If anyone wants to try to figure out who Assassin is, feel free. You might get it first try, you might not. It may be obvious, it may not. It is to me but I'm the one who decided to use her. I won't tell you if you're right but it can make things fun.**

**Also, I know what was used to summon Medusa was actually a mirror of some kind. Like I said, I'm screwing with things a bit.**

**Now then, reviews make me happy and willing to write. XD  
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	3. Chapter 2 Unplanned Circumstances

**Last time repeating it. I reworked this story to include a prologue that's an actual story of the Archer showing up in **_Archer's Torment**. **_**From now on I will try to update as soon as possible but I am limited by real life situations(like tomorrow I have to go help clear out some private land we're borrowing for a camping event then be part of a video chat with a great-great grand mother for her birthday so I will have no chance to write) and writers block that I know will come at some point. Reviews help avoid at least one of those problems XD  
**

**Remember, since these are two different stories, characters that are dead in one version aren't in another XD**

**Torment of Rebirth**

Chapter 2

Unplanned Circumstances

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Rin's Perspective_

Rin was seriously annoyed. All she had done was gone to save Emiya the _second_ time in one night. The clueless magus had _accidentally_ summoned the Saber she had wanted so badly. He knew nothing about the war, couldn't heal his Servant, couldn't supply her with mana, he couldn't even fix a stupid window that had been broken.

Since he had ordered his Servant to stop attacking her Archer-who definitely would've fought well against her-Rin decided that she was in his debt and she didn't want to be in anyone's debt that she might have to kill. That led to them going to the church, which led to Emiya deciding to be a Master, which led to her walking him to the crossroads between their houses, which led to them running into a small white haired girl with a giant behind her.

The girl was an Einzbern, Ilyasviel von Einzbern. And you could feel the power radiating off of her Berserker. But the moment the girl started to order her monster to attack, a shrill laughter had rung out, freezing everyone.

"Oh, no. Don't mind me. Go ahead." Rin felt Archer tense beside her and looked towards the voice. The woman sitting on the power lines was obviously a Servant, "It's just amusing to watch."

"And who, may I ask, are you?" Rin asked the Servant.

"Why don't you ask your Archer that?" The woman taunted as Rin's eyes widened, "Wait, that's right. He never even found out my name." She laughed again, flipping so she was hanging off of the wires by one knee, "He does seem to remember me though, doesn't he?" Rin felt the slight drain of Archer materializing himself, "I'd hope you would. I certainly did enough to get your attention back when we were alive, now didn't I?"

"What are you doing here?" Archer practically growled. Rin hadn't even thought her servant could be so angry, what with the relatively carefree attitude he had up to this point.

"Didn't think you'd be the only one called, did you? The fact that you are who you are how you are means that I could be called." The Servant stated the ridiculous sentence as if it were nothing, "And such a lovely little Master you have here, so much more _mature_ than my last victim." Archer's blades materialized as Ilyasviel was becoming agitated from being ignored.

"State your class, Servant." She demanded.

"Servant Assassin, at your service." The woman taunted. Saber immediately jumped in front of Emiya as Ilyasviel frowned.

"Archer, why are you so worried about an Assassin? They're the weakest class." Rin asked Archer, the woman laughed again.

"Yes, Archer. Why are you so worried? It's not like I'm in the mood to tear your friends limb from limb again." Rin's eyes widened. No Assassin should be able to do that, "After all, even if you never found out who I was. You are the one who killed me. You know exactly how to do it. Shall we have a repeat of last time?" Rin smiled. If her Archer had killed this Servant, it shouldn't be too hard to kill the Servant again, "How about you pick one of the lovely ladies here?" She laughed yet again, this time tauntingly.

"Archer, what is she talking about?" Rin asked. Why would he have to pick someone?

"Do you really want me to explain here?" Archer asked, looking at the others. Berserker and Saber were more worried about Assassin than him, but obviously he was worried they might figure something out about him. Rin nodded, "In my time, this woman was slaughtering hundreds a day. I had fought her many times but every time I injured her, it would just heal. Limbs would grow back, a head split in half would merely sew itself back together. No matter what I did, hundreds died the next day. I made a deal with the world to find out how to kill her, turns out millennia before she received immortality. Her body cannot die, but her soul can. If she possesses someone and you kill that person, she dies." Rin's eyes narrowed. He remembered that much but he couldn't remember his name? Not to mention she had never heard of such a tale, and that would be noticed.

"And he was even told when and where I would possess my next victim." Assassin giggled, "His house, ten minutes later. I possessed the woman he loved." Rin's eyes widened, "He had to slaughter her with his own hands or be punished by the world that told him how to kill me." Assassin broke out into hysterical laughter.

"I still don't know why she targeted me from the beginning." Archer growled.

"An immortal Assassin." Rin mumbled. That was seriously a dangerous combination.

"He hasn't told you his name, has he?" Assassin was suddenly serious, looking at Rin. "Probably said something along the lines of not remembering. Do me a favor, check his left pocket. He's had that thing ever since it came into his possession. Even went with his body to the grave." Rin frowned and looked at Archer who looked worried, "Ever since its owner died, he's held onto it. From before he even knew how to fight, and the idiot's never even used it."

"Don't listen to her, Rin." Archer asked her.

"Show me." Rin commanded.

"Rin…." Archer started, his body showing the effects of resisting her last command. He seemed as if he were regretting something.

"Archer, show me now or I will use another command spell." This woman _knew_ her Archer, knew how to get to him, knew all about him. The Servant had even gotten her Archer to tell what he had obviously been withholding. Rin couldn't have that.

Archer frowned and slowly reached into his pocket, holding onto something large with a chain that hung on his wrist. A familiar chain. He still did not open his hand.

"Rin, don't make me." Everyone was watching him, curious now.

"Open your hand." And he did.

Rin's eyes widened. That jewel. The one her father had left her. The one she had used to summon Archer and then heal Emiya. Had Archer held this gem in the past, her father had given her a catalyst to summon a Servant after all? She could feel the power in it. Exactly the same as what had been stored in it minus the amount she used to summon Archer. It felt the same, it was the same.

"In our timeline, Emiya Shirou picked that up after the death of Tohsaka Rin at the hands of Lancer." Asssassin filled her in and Rin couldn't move.

_Archer's Torment_

_Archer's Perspective_

Nothing was going how it was supposed to. Sakura wasn't supposed to be at the school with Shirou-because Archer wouldn't consider the boy himself-she was supposed to be blissfully unaware at her own home. Rider had somehow shown up to save the two students, leaving Archer to question if Sakura had decided to be a master this time around. And Rin had decided to go to Shirou's house.

That last one had been a disaster. Lancer spent a little time trying to lose Archer but quickly decided to just go after Shirou. Right about as Rin was arriving. She had ordered Archer to protect any humans within. Lancer had pretended to be interested in fighting Archer again but snuck around him just as Rin showed up.

Rin foolishly used a command spell ordering him to protect Shirou just as Archer realized that Lancer wasn't using his standard application of the curse within Gae Bolg. Therefore Archer was forced to watch as one of his closest friends and Master was killed, unable to move.

After all, Lancer had started with the spear over his shoulder and simply swung it around in order to hit the unprotected Master. Rin had been about to create a defense, pulling out the gem she never used to bring Shirou back to life, but never got to it.

He hadn't done anything yet, nothing to create these changes.

Saber was summoned in that exact moment and attacked Lancer-the Servant with the most hostility, but as soon as the blue servant was gone she turned to Archer.

"Get away from him." She ordered Archer.

"My Master was just killed." Archer gestured to the fallen Tohsaka, his emotions pulled away as they had been many times in his life, "As of this moment I have no reason to be hostile towards any Master, I only need to find one capable of taking me in before my mana runs out."

"And why should I just let you go?" Saber asked him, ready to strike at any moment.

"Because my Master died using a command spell to order me to protect yours. I cannot harm him at this moment. You appear to be a knight, so you will honor the debt created, correct?" Saber frowned but eventually gave a tense nod.

"Get out of here now, I will not have my Master drain himself with two Servants, but if you do find a Master then the next time we meet shall be as enemies." The King of Knights stepped aside and Archer looked down at Rin as he passed, her blood was blending in with her red shirt so the only thing that gave away her state was the hole and her eyes. Archer paused for a moment to honor her then moved on before the female Servant took offense.

Then he went straight into the Emiya household with a smirk.

He felt the confusion rolling off of the other two but knew that they had a few details to settle before they could follow him to where he sensed another Servant and Master pairing. As he opened the bathroom door, he instantly dodged the nail.

"I'm not here to harm your Master." He called, "I can sense her distress, and we both know it's not caused by physical exhaustion or any external force." There was a pause as the Gorgon considered.

"What do you know of her illness?" The woman asked. Archer took that as an offer to at least look at the two.

"There is something in her heart that drains her. Most of the time it is inactive, but with you here it seems to be punishing her." Rider frowned, "There is a Servant outside with a Master who knows nothing of the situation. Odds are once she realizes this is his house instead of the home of my fallen Master she will likely come after us. Not to mention your Master is injured from her fall when the curse took hold."

"And why should I trust you?" Rider asked.

"Because it will be hard for me to find another Master who is strong enough to support two Servants at once and this one could if she is freed from her curse." Archer answered with a Servant's logic, "And I have the knowledge necessary to do that." Rider considered the options for a moment.

"I will watch everything you do. When it is over, it is up to Sakura to decide if she will accept you." Archer smiled. It was easy to know everyone's motivation from his past experience, "But I will be the one to move her. And you should hurry, she will not have control over me for much longer and once it is lost, her command seals will disappear." Now that was unexpected. Shared custody?

Rider picked up Sakura and started to bring her into another room.

"Bring her into the living room. A futon may be comfier but if it seems we are expecting them, it will set them off guard." Rider nodded and went into the room she had scouted earlier. Archer followed the two and cleared the tea from the table so Rider could set the girl on it. He found some ink and started creating a circle around the table.

When Saber did come charging in, he was nearly finished and the knight froze in shock.

"Saber, stop. Don't hurt anyone!" Shirou yelled, running after her until he too froze, "What are you doing to Sakura?" He demanded from Archer.

"Have you seen the state she's in?" Archer asked him simply, Shirou frowned. "Saber, I can feel your holy energy, if you're willing to help…." Archer started before he was interrupted.

"Why would I help? I already gave you one pass and you used it to enter my Master's home." She was offended by his actions, "You have turned his living area into a spell room, and what for?"

"This girl has a serious curse settled within her heart. I am trying to remove it with as little harm to her as possible." The knight was obviously wavering.

"Caster, I assume? Few magi can be trusted." Saber said to convince herself not to help.

"No, I am Archer." Her eyes widened, "And while I do have magic, I don't believe I can be called a typical magus by any definition." Saber turned her eyes on Rider.

"Then you are Caster and are merely having him prepare for you." She seemed set on that idea.

"I am Rider and I am just as clueless as you are. But I can feel the curse within my Master." Rider seemed slightly amused at Saber's persistence.

"Then if it is an enemy Master…." Saber started.

"You can help Sakura? Her eyes were bloodshot, but then that blue guy showed up so I had to do what I could. Please, do anything you can to save her." Shirou begged Archer. Saber sighed.

"Alright, Archer. I will help you. The debt shall lie on your side." Archer nodded, "What shall I do?"

"Unfortunately for this to work well I need to cycle mana through you to turn it holy, which means we need some form of connection." Saber scowled. Archer took off the top half of his holy shroud leaving his arms exposed. He cut along his left upper bicep with a dagger produced from thin air. At the same time he handed Saber an identical knife.

"You seriously owe me for this. And no taking more mana than you give." Archer smirked as Saber placed her freshly cut hand onto the cut on his shoulder.

"Trust me, Saber." He placed his right hand on Sakura's heart and his left on his head. The magical circuits he received from her recognized the contact with their original owner and flared to life. Saber's eyes widened, "Treating her, it won't be a problem." Archer set up a circuit just to cycle mana between him and Saber then focused on Sakura. He chanted the incantation to himself as the circle he drew filled with holy light, starting from the outside and heading in towards Sakura. When the whole circle was filled Saber felt the mana stop cycling. It just kept giving her energy without returning any to Archer. Saber frowned when her reserves reached twice what they had been before Archer's cut healed and he twitched his arm as if pushing her off. She took that as him saying that he didn't need her help anymore and left the circle.

The holy light entered Sakura, causing the girl to glow. As the glow faded into her, a black glow went up Archer's arms creating black veins along his arms that looked almost like blood poisoning. Saber was glad she had pulled back before that started.

Archer ignored the pain through his arms as he felt the last of the connection between Sakura and Zouken fade. The worms were gone. Unfortunately, he couldn't get rid of any trace of a potential grail within her but he had removed the traces of Avenger and Zouken. As he finished, he nearly collapsed. Now that it had been forced out of Sakura, it was in him. He had to purify himself before they could corrupt him. Archer took the last of the holy energy he had borrowed from Saber and gathered it in his heart, slowly pushing it out and down his arms where it gathered the dark energy that had gathered. He managed to get back up without the use of his arms as the mixed energy gathered in his hands. Archer barely managed to make it to the door before the energy shot out of his body. Luckily he had made sure his arms were facing up so that it would shoot up into the sky and disperse.

Warily he went back to the living room. The circle had been drawn into Sakura with the holy element so the only indicator of anything he had done was the perfectly healthy girl lying on the table-her head injury had healed along with the light. Archer looked at Saber.

"Was that enough payment?" He asked the knight, even joking slightly.

"How did you acquire that much mana when you have no Master?" Saber inquired.

"I receive differing amounts of mana dependent upon who I am in contact with." Archer lied easily before plopping down and leaning against a wall, "Unfortunately, if she doesn't accept me as a Servant, I'm done." Archer laughed.

He had wanted to come back to save everyone. Rin died and Rider wasn't likely to stay nor was Saber. At least he'd managed to save Sakura. If he stayed in the game depended upon how soon she woke up. He could already see her command seals fading.

"Why risk the whole war for one girl?" Saber asked Archer who smiled ruefully.

"A debt to her true family." It wasn't entirely a lie, "Amusing that my entire reason for becoming like this can be over just like that."

"Senpai?"

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Ilya's Perspective_

If there was one thing Ilya hated, it was being ignored. Her existence was ignored by her father. Her efforts had been ignored by her grandfather. And now she was being ignored by the others. The only one who even seemed to notice her anymore was the red Archer. Saber would look over at Berserker but only Archer looked at her. She wanted to know who they were but unfortunately she couldn't know who the servants were until they returned to her.

That Assassin wasn't right. All Assassins were supposed to be from the same group. Hassan or something like that. This Assassin wasn't in all black with a skull mask like Assassins are supposed to be. There weren't supposed to be any immortal servants, her Berserker was supposed to be the closest.

And now everyone's focused on some stupid necklace that Archer has _instead of her_!

"In our timeline, Emiya Shirou picked that up after the death of Tohsaka Rin at the hands of Lancer." Assassin says out of the blue. Emiya Shirou from another time? Did that mean that Ilya could tear him apart twice?

"Senpai?" The result of the girl with purple hair showing up was instant. Archer abandoned his Master to protect the girl while Assassin also launched herself towards the girl. Archer changed his course to intercept Assassin and soon he was standing between Assassin and Sakura.

"Not again." Archer commanded firmly, "She was your first victim last time; you will not hurt her again." Assassin laughed, though this time it didn't sound quite so unrestrained. Ilya wondered about the change in her demeanor.

"Aw, don't want to see your precious underclassman in pieces all around your kitchen again?" Assassin teased. Rin and Shirou stared while Sakura didn't seem to hear; she was still too far away, "Don't worry, this time she hasn't had her hopes raised by being told she would get to be with the one she loved. This time she won't be begging to escape." Archer glared at Assassin, "Besides. I would never hurt my Master." She laughed again and jumped over the shocked Archer, "Not as long as I need her."

**Starting to learn a bit more about Assassin. I enjoy twisted people. And this version of her is completely different from the one she showed Sakura...but we also know what happens to Sakura in **_Archer's Torment_** now. Starting to get why it's torment? Any guesses as to who it is that Assassin possesses to have Archer kill her? There can't be that many options left when I'm not putting in OCs**

**Review to let me know what you think and keep me happy XD I would love to come home from pulling choya and clearing trash to find at least four reviews XD**


	4. Chapter 3 Revelations of Red and Gold

**We actually get to see a bit of Assassin fighting now. I feel the need to explain again that she is not an Original Character. She is in the Fate/Stay Night storyline and her abilities can all be explained once you learn her full story.**

**You get to learn of her beginning in this chapter as well, might like it, might not. All I know is it's where the idea for this whole thing sprung up from...and then I was sad to learn I misunderstood it which led to me wanting to change how it turns out so it wasn't a misunderstanding.**

**Also in this chapter, how fast did Rider rush into the Emiya compound when she felt her Master's danger? What happens to Rin's body? Will Sakura accept Archer as her second Servant? Will Ilya put up with being ignored any longer? Why was a stone snake able to summon Assassin? Just how crazy is Assassin? Find out Ne-this time on...**

**Torment of Rebirth**

Chapter 3

Revelations of Red and Gold

_Archer's Torment_

_Shirou's Perspective_

"Oh wow, what a big home! Anybody here?" Shirou's gaze was torn from the newly arisen Matou and instantly went to the door even though there was no doorbell, "It couldn't compare to the castle, of course." Shirou saw the small white girl mumbling to herself, "Ah, Onii-chan, it's you!" Her smile was blinding, "I was walking by when I noticed that the front gate was torn off its hinges. I came to let you know and I found a body, not to mention the front door was destroyed as well. I was expecting there to be only ghosts left." Shirou stared at the girl through the human sized hole in his front door. He wondered briefly what happened then decided to focus on the girl.

"I saw you the other night, didn't I?" He asked to try and pull the conversation away from the destruction of his father's home.

"You remember me, Onii-chan!" Her expression brightened.

"Since you're here so late, why don't you come in for tea? I have a few guests over as is." Red eyes closed as the girl smiled widely and nodded, "What's your name?" Shirou asked as he opened the door for her.

"Ilya. Call me Ilya." Her hand went behind her back for a second before she walked in behind Shirou, "And yours, Onii-chan?"

"Emiya Shirou." He informed the girl.

"Emiyashirou? Ey-me-ah-she-ro? Emi Yashiro?" Ilya mumbled to herself trying to figure out how to say it.

"Just call me Shirou." Shirou said as they walked into the living room.

"Okay, Shirou." Ilya smiled as they walked in. Sakura had gotten up and Archer had his hands on each side of her head. Her eyes were wide and watering as they stood like that for a moment more before Sakura moved in to hug him, "Are they in love?" Ilya asked, watching them with a confused frown.

"Yes, I'll do it." Sakura said while still hugging Archer. Shirou scowled slightly.

"Sakura, I don't mean to be rude but we have a guest. Any chance you can take this into another room for the moment?" The girl's eyes widened as she registered the small girl and nodded before rushing out. Archer and Rider followed behind them, "Ilya this is Saber, Saber Ilya." Shirou introduced the two girls left while glaring at the door the three had just left through, "I'll get some tea." He looked at Saber.

"I'll help." She said and followed Shirou into the kitchen.

"What was that about?" He asked the Servant quietly.

"Archer asked if she would be his Master then showed her his memories so she could know his intentions. You saw the result." Saber frowned as she too glanced at the door, her gaze then turned to Ilya, "Who's your guest?" She asked.

"She was coming to tell me that the front gate was destroyed. She saw Tohsaka." Shirou paused, his hand hovering over his left pocket for a second before he shook his head and moved on, "What are we going to do?"

"I will find a place to make her death more natural. It's only right that her family is able to grieve over her. You said you had no magic so I assume you can't fix the gate but we can work together to fix it in the morning." Shirou nodded as he set the kettle on top of the burner, "Be wary, Master. Even if the seals around the house sensed no hostile intention, all interactions at this time are suspicious." Shirou decided not to tell Saber what Ilya had said to him when they met. He let the Servant leave to take care of the body.

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Sakura's Perspective_

Assassin landed in front of Sakura despite the distance.

"Master, what is it you wish for me to do?" She asked the girl.

"The red one seems to not like you." Sakura stated to Assassin, the Servant gave a short laugh.

"Archer, I knew him in my lifetime. He likes very few people." Sakura nodded. The white girl seemed to be annoyed by everything going on.

"Forget all of this nonsense. Berserker, kill them all!" She announced. The creature let out a loud roar before heading for the closest victim, Shirou. Saber's defense of him from Assassin had led to him having his back exposed to Berserker.

"Save him." Sakura ordered Assassin. The Servant nodded and sent mana to her feet, allowing her to speed herself and run past the shocked Saber. Berserker had been running with his blade to his side, Assassin launched herself into a flip so she landed with her hands on Berserker's shoulders. Blackened fingertips went up his shoulders then back down as gravity pulled her back to the ground, dragging her fingers down his back. Assassin instantly turned as she hit the ground and launched for Ilya as blood exploded out of the lines she traced. Berserker roared yet again and charged for the woman attacking his Master. Sakura watched as the blonde Saber and the red Archer charged after different opponents.

Saber went after Berserker. The blood had stopped flowing from his wounds moments after it started.

Archer went after Assassin. Maybe he held a grudge against her, after all. The war naturally led to killing other Masters. But that didn't mean that Sakura wanted to kill anyone.

'_Don't kill her, Assassin._' Sakura reminded her Servant.

'_I know, but the only thing Berserker will register is his Master. If he thinks she's in danger he'll abandon his attack. I'm going to trick Archer into Berserker's attack._' Sakura nodded to herself and watched as just that happened.

Archer was so set to his course that he managed to position himself between Assassin and Ilya. Assassin shot to the left just as she was about to reach Archer. Berserker-who had been right behind Assassin and had been in the process of attacking her-swung his giant axe-sword into Archer and carried the Servant's body around flinging it into the following Saber.

And that was when the curse placed by blackened fingertips had finally dug its way into Berserker's heart causing a life to be taken. However, as the curse had been digging, so too had Berserker been healing. His body had already been in the process of healing the wound before it was created. So Berserker had not been out for long, he only lost a single life.

And the only one who walked out of all of this unharmed was Assassin.

_Archer's Torment_

_Sakura's Perspective_

He was Shirou! Archer was Shirou from a life with Sakura. He was proof that they got together. But Sakura also saw within his memories their deaths in his time. And her sister's death only an hour before. She saw his torment as it happened just as she saw his emotions drained out of him by The World.

After they completed the ritual to have Sakura take ownership of Archer, Rider nodded and left. The purple-haired Servant was back under her brother's control but Sakura's command seals remained so she could control Archer.

"Won't grandfather just send Nii-sama after me?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"I was told that the worm within your heart was the one that contained his soul. There may be remnants of his desires left behind but they won't be coherent enough to tell Shinji what happened." Archer informed her. Sakura had seen the intensive studies he had made into her grandfather so she believed him, "One thing though." Sakura looked over at Archer, "I removed his influence and the taint, but you still can become a grail. It is under your control and you don't know how to control it, but you can learn. Until you do I suggest you avoid coming into contact with anyone producing mana."

"What about you?" Sakura asked, looking at Archer, "I just hugged you."

"And it drained a good portion of my mana. Fortunately, my magical circuits originally came from you and recognize your mana. The mana you supply me with activates the circuits as they had worked during my life meaning I have near limitless mana." Sakura's eyes widened, "Something I'm glad for since I wouldn't have been able to remove that worm without a ridiculous amount of mana."

"How do I learn to control it?" Sakura asked. There was a certain magus she didn't want to have to avoid.

"We'll wait till morning and then once my mana is replenished I can help you figure it out. I have used way too much tonight though. I believe I heard the kid mention something about tea." Sakura nodded with a smile and the two went back into the living room to find Shirou with the white haired girl he had brought in, the air seemed awkward.

"Am I wrong, Shirou?" The girl asked, Shirou looked at the two who just looked in with a frown, "Anyways, now that you two are back, I wanna talk about something!" The girl announced.

"Alright then, my name is Sakura." Sakura introduced herself, already knowing the girl's name and relation to Shirou from Archer's memories but not wanting to give it away.

"I am Ilya." She introduced herself as Sakura sat next to her and Archer sat next to Shirou, "And I just wanted to say that I am disgusted by what you forced your original Servant into, you should save her from your brother as soon as you can!" Two pairs of eyes stared at the girl in shock. Shirou's at the fact that she knew about the war and Sakura's from what she had just said. Archer smiled fondly for a second before it faded away, "You're making a mockery of my war and I don't want someone like him to even be considered."

"What are you…." Shirou started.

"Obviously Ilya is a Master." Archer said easily. Ilya looked over at him.

"And you have more mana than your Master should have been able to provide you with." Archer shrugged at Ilya who frowned, "Ew." Shirou looked confused while Archer was amused and Sakura blushed, stuttering something about being wrong that made no sense at all, "Look, I don't care what happens between Master and Servant. But we can all agree that if that guy somehow won, it would be bad, right?" Everyone took a second to consider it. All the color drained from Shirou and Sakura's faces.

"So, first matter of business should be to take care of Shinji, got it. What about you, young miss Einzbern without her Servant?" Archer asked with a smirk while Ilya looked at him weird, "At the very least your Servant must be outside. Very few could come in without triggering the alarm and I doubt an Einzbern would be willing to accept an Assassin."

"Who are you?" Ilya asked with narrow eyes. The girl knew she hadn't shared her last name.

"No one of consequence." Archer answered, glancing at Sakura with a smirk.

"I must know…." Ilya glanced at Sakura as well but the girl was frowning.

"Get used to disappointment." Archer said it so offhandedly Ilya became annoyed.

"If I kill you it won't matter." The small girl growled, "You already allowed one master to die, and you don't seem to care about her at all." Archer glared at the girl with his hands twitching; you could practically feel how badly he wanted to kill her in the air around them.

Sakura did feel that anger being drained out of their surroundings and Archer as well. Based on her reaction, Ilya did as well.

"You didn't…what could be so bad you would make _that_ deal?" Ilya asked Archer, having obviously figured out his problem.

"You don't want to find out." Was Archer's only answer

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Assassin's Perspective_

"Shouldn't we save senpai?" Sakura asked as Assassin started to walk away.

"Out of all of them, Saber was the least injured. Berserker has a higher recovery rate but the girl seems uninterested in continuing." Assassin explained simply.

"You still won't tell me who you are?" Sakura asked her Servant.

"The job of an Assassin is to remain anonymous. A successful one is never known. You wouldn't know me by my name as no one ever learned it, only by my kills." Assassin smiled, "My most famous of which wasn't even seen as an Assassination, just an accident where future seeing eyes didn't notice a snake."

"Is that why I could summon you with a snake?" Sakura asked her Servant.

"You are curious today, aren't you?" Assassin looked at her Master and seemed to decide upon something, "I was born as a snake, just like any other until I ate a root." Sakura's eyes widened, "That root had me constantly being reborn into a new version of myself whenever the previous died. My first kill was the man who left that root for me to eat."

"So how are you human?" Sakura asked her.

"My deal with The World that left me in the pool of possible summons was simply to become human. I have since learned how to control if I am reborn or if I simply regrow. I can also change back into a snake if I really desire, but it takes me a few days to become human again." Assassin smirked as Sakura realized what that meant. All of her famous assassinations were done as a snake, seen as an accident while Assassin herself stayed out of the way for a few days before she became human again.

"If you're reborn, how do you have a family?" Sakura asked. Assassin wasn't surprised at her line of questioning.

"I can always possess an infant, sometimes even before they are born. What I prefer to do is to find a couple in the act of conceiving and create a life there. That way I can grow into an actual representation of myself and I won't be ridding anyone of their chance at life. Creates a better vessel anyhow." Sakura smiled. Her Servant may be an Assassin but she cares about children. Obviously she couldn't be that bad.

Assassin nearly laughed at how easy Sakura was to read. Then again, she had known everything there was to know about the girl in her previous life before that one little accident.

"One more thing, you said you knew Archer, did you kill him as well?" Sakura asked Assassin, the Servant frowned.

"No, he's the one who killed me. His deal to The World was the knowledge and opportunity to do so." Sakura's eyes widened, "But rest assured, that weakness of mine can only be exploited if I allow it to."

"The two enigmas together, why is that not a surprise? Why don't you two go ahead and kill eachother so I don't have to deal with your taint?" Assassin nearly laughed.

"Wow, speak of the devil and the devil shall appear, I never actually believed that saying until now." The golden man frowned as Assassin smirked.

"I am no devil, I am the king. All who live here belong to me and I don't want you. Disappear before me, eyesore." He waved them off.

"Golden Gilgamesh, great king of Uruk." Assassin started. The man's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in suspicion, "Half-god King of Heroes with eyes that saw beyond those of the gods. Eyes that saw so far he couldn't be bothered with the little things." She laughed, "Couldn't see a snake stealing your immortality nor that same snake slaying you in your bedchambers. How were you supposed to know that only the first root from that herb granted true immortality?"

"You…." Gilgamesh growled, "That was a snake." A single blade launched out at Assassin. She let it hit her straight in the chest before pulling it out.

"Snakes shed their skins; who knows what they become." Assassin smirked as Gilgamesh turned his gaze to her Master.

"Even snakes need nourishment." As he shot ten swords at Sakura, Assassin grabbed her and jumped away.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked as they left.

"A wildcard who won't let his guard down again." Assassin answered with a frown on her face.

"Then why did you tell him who you were?" Sakura stated what had once seemed like the most obvious solution.

"He wouldn't have let down his guard in the first place if I hadn't gotten him angry. I never could've gotten you out otherwise. Unfortunately, that version of him is immune to my strongest abilities so I'll need an alternate plan to deal with him." Assassin scowled. She had forgotten about Gilgamesh. If nothing else, the golden Archer wasn't supposed to show up for a while longer. She had already removed the best option to defeat him, now she needed an alternative.

She knew where to find it as well, they just wouldn't be happy to see her again, especially not so soon.

Maybe she could have fun with that.

**Yup, Gilgamesh's offhand comment about giving immortality to a snake inspired this whole bit of nonsense. And, Assassin does have fears-just of the first person she killed, not the one who killed her.**

**If you are the first person to find the convo-quote(basically multiple lines that are a quote) I put in here from one of my favorite movies and tell me where it's from you get...something! Not sure what. You can try making a request! I know I don't have any plans for who Shirou ends up with in Rebirth so you could pick that...or maybe just request to know who Assassin is, that's an easy one. Fight you want to see, flash back(or forward) to Shirou finding the death of a certain person(anyone you request is pretty much fair game...everyone dies at some point)**

**Also, I am making her unstable for a reason. She(obviously) has a ton of experience from her long lifetime and can rely on that when it becomes too much but Assassin is rather screwed up in the head, if she killed people secretly as a snake for years what makes her suddenly decide to go on a killing spree centered around a certain red-head? Plus, she is obviously forcing calmness around Sakura so her Master doesn't abandon her**

**This chapter is slightly shorter than the last two mainly because I wanted to finish it before going to bed. Not every chapter will be updated within a few days but I will try. For best results, review within two hours of reading xD**


	5. Chapter 4 Unnecessary Conflict

**Yay, I got another review! And this one was guessing who Assassin was.**

**A really good guess too…it fits so well, I kinda wish it were the truth. In a way it even explains why she was sitting on a power line(which was just me being silly)…but I have no idea about Roa and I couldn't make it work with what I've got in motion anyhow!**

**Just to clarify, Assassin is a character in Fate/Stay Night. Not an original character, not someone pulled over from another part of the Fate series, and no one in a random Nasuverse that I have never read. If you have played through the game then you know exactly as much about this character as I did when I decided to screw with things.**

**Also, I actually looked at the names of the people who are following this, among them is someone named ariados26**

**Ariados26**

**Aria dos 26**

**Aria 2 26**

**Aria 2x26**

**Aria 52**

**O.o**

**I know that wasn't the intention but I was kinda amused. Throw in that of the top fifteen anime/manga/otherwise that were listed and I know and like seven of them, as well as apparently she(assuming) likes Kyou Kara Maoh…some of her stories look interesting so I may go read after I finish writing this XP**

**Also, to those of you who are confused by this whole thing, so am I! And I'm the one writing it. I literally have to go back and reread the whole story for every chapter I write just to make sure I don't screw everything up XD**

**After all, if I remember something wrong, if I write a conversation in one version then bring it up again in the other then everything's gone to hell and any chance you guys had at making sense of this goes out the window. Fortunately I'm starting to lead the stories in relatively different directions. Unfortunately, I'm having a mild case of writer's block.**

**First Archer(the one that died in heaven's feel): Now, since Aria forgot to mention this at the beginning, she does not own Fate/Stay Night**

**Torment Archer(The one that has his emotions drained): A fact that I am very glad for, all things considered**

**Rebirth Archer(Dude who got his life fucked up by two crazy girls): We should just burn both her and Assassin to a crisp and be done with it**

**Aria: Hey!**

**Torment of Rebirth**

Chapter 4

Unnecessary Conflict

_Archer's Torment_

_Rider's Perspective_

Rider watched as Shinji sat at his desk. Her fake master was so set on the Blood Fort activating once all of his enemies were present that he was waiting for a student who would never come. The self-absorbed boy never bothered to check the news; he didn't know that the Tohsaka was already dead. So here they were, sitting in the classroom with Archer watching after the boy Sakura liked. Shinji said he would give her the signal the moment he saw the Tohsaka, but she knew that would never happen.

Archer looked over at Rider with a raised eyebrow but the purple haired Servant only shook her head. Archer could sense what her master was after, and he was obviously wondering if the boy was going to activate it. When lunch came around the boy was fuming.

"Master." Rider decided to tell him about the events of the night prior.

"Shut up! You are not allowed to speak! You disappeared on me twice last night. Twice! With no explanation. Now disappear and wait for my signal." Rider nodded and went back into spirit form. Shinji moped for the rest of the day, not even noticing the attitude the rest of the students had. This continued for two more days before he had enough.

"Hey, Emiya. Have you seen Tohsaka? I needed to talk to her about something." Shinji asked the other boy one day after school; Archer looked at Rider in amusement.

"Tohsaka?" The red haired Master asked sadly, "Shinji, she….she died three nights ago." Shinji's eyes widened, "It was all over the news."

"Dammit, that bitch died before I could kill her." The red head's eyes widened. Archer's eyes narrowed, "I can't even fuck her corpse like the whore deserves." The boy stared at her master in shock and it was slowly turning into disgust, "Do it, Rider." And even though there was practically no one left in the school, Rider did as her master said and activated the Blood Fort, "It was nice knowing you, Emiya." Shinji laughed, expecting the redhead to collapse.

"Archer." That one word from the boy caused fear to envelop her master's form. The white haired Servant materialized.

"Rider, kill them both." Rider materialized herself with a frown. Her true Master cared about these two but she couldn't resist an order from her fake master. As the Gorgon engaged the two in battle, her master ran off.

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Shirou's Perspective_

The girl-Ilya-had let them leave soon after the mini four-way battle. Tohsaka had gone with Shirou and Saber back to the Emiya household-grumbling all the way. The only Servant that had gotten seriously injured had been her Archer and that was because he went to protect another Master.

"Archer, you know of Assassin. Would you share that knowledge?" Saber asked the white-haired Servant to break the tension.

"The attack she used against Berserker is probably the biggest problem. It will eat away at mana, devouring anyone with magical circuits. She only used a mild strength attack of it on Berserker but full strength would probably eat most Servants whole." Archer explained.

"How could anyone be able to do that?" Tohsaka interrupted, "Servants are supposed to be the most powerful beings ever to exist, and Assassins are supposed to be the weakest among them."

"Servants are essentially beings made of mana, the perfect attack against any of us is to remove that mana. The stronger the Servant, the more effective that attack is." Archer explained, "I know that she can cast at least a few spells, whether that's with her original magical circuits or ones stolen through her ability, I don't know."

"On the plus side, she can only absorb so much mana at a time so if a Servant is too strong, it will overload her and kill her. Though that is the problem at the moment." Everyone jumped as the subject of their conversation showed up. Archer and Saber immediately moved as if to attack her as Assassin set her Master down, "Relax, there's a problem." She tried to pacify them, inwardly laughing at the irony in her sentence, "A certain golden Archer left over from the last war." Saber's eyes widened.

"Impossible." Tohsaka interjected, "No one can be left from a previous war."

"They can if they consume the contents of the Grail then find enough people to supply them with mana. Can't allow that to continue on Tohsaka land, now can we?" Tohsaka's eyes widened, "And targeting innocents in general is just wrong, isn't it Shirou?" Assassin was smirking while Shirou frowned. He had already found out what the woman would do to those he cared about and didn't like the idea of working with her but he couldn't let innocent people get involved.

Assassin smirked, three down, one to go.

"Never." Archer growled, "This could be a trap, lead all of them into one place so you can kill them all at once."

"Come now, Archer. It's not like She's here. Besides, if I had hostile intentions the boundary field would've let you all know. I could've killed you all before you even knew I was here. But I promised my Master I wouldn't kill any humans." Archer didn't seem to believe it, "Well, if you guys won't help, I could always go check with Berserker's Master. I know she won't tolerate any rule breaking."

"Don't. You. Dare." Archer was so angry everyone in the room could feel it, "It might be best to keep an eye on you, but tell me. Why are you so frightened of Gilgamesh?" Assassin nearly laughed as Archer said the name of the one who was apparently their biggest threat.

"He has enough mana that it would spiral me out of control, not to mention a portion of that mana is a dark substance I can't absorb without serious consequences for the whole town. I can attack in other ways but I know that you and Saber combined would be a much more serious threat than I could ever be to him." Assassin explained.

"One thing." She turned to Shirou as he spoke, "You were completely different earlier, practically insane. Why are you so calm now. If you're from this time, what drove you so insane in the first place, why target…." _Me_? Leaving the last word unsaid, Shirou looked at Assassin, trying to figure it out.

"Oh, that's simple. Over a decade ago I felt a pure soul being brought into the world and was intrigued by it. I decided to have myself be reborn in the same city, even removed all my previous memories on a whim. Turns out that soul wasn't as pure as I thought, circumstances arose, promises were broken, torture on a level very few would be able to even imagine. End result, Emiya Shirou was the reason I decided to go through the life that I did and it wasn't worth it. I targeted everything that he cared about, including innocents." Assassin shrugged as Sakura stared at her in shock, "Incestuous child molester that he was." Now the girls were all looking at Shirou who was staring at Archer who was glaring at Assassin.

"All of this because you misunderstood?" Assassin shrugged, "Maybe I should just throw you to Gilgamesh."

"Do that and I will absorb him. The taint in the grail? Imagine that getting brought into a Servant who could absorb all of the others. You don't know what could happen, but I do. It's not good. I restrict myself for a reason, but he would just keep eating and eating until the whole world was absorbed and that still wouldn't be enough." Assassin smirked as Archer frowned, "If you want to do that, go ahead. Having the world destroyed by Emiya Shirou, it'll almost be as rich as forcing you to kill the Einzbern with your own hands."

"You don't understand anything." Archer hissed at her.

"I understand plenty. Are we going to go after Gilgamesh or not?"

_Archer's Torment_

_Shirou's Perspective_

As Archer and Rider fought, Shinji ran. Shirou ran after him. The twisted wannabe magus ran straight for a classroom Shirou knew well.

'_Don't let her be in there'_ She was.

Shinji grabbed Sakura and pulled her closer with a knife to her throat.

"Come any closer and the whore gets it." Shinji smirked as Shirou froze for a moment.

"She is not a-" Shirou started to move, wanting to punch Shinji.

"Ah, ah, ah. Red just isn't her color, now is it?" He pressed the knife closer to his sister's throat.

"Archer!" Shirou called. Archer rushed over but Rider stopped him, now the Servants were between the two Masters-and the one fake master-Shinji laughed.

"What kind of Servant is he? Short swords as an Archer? As if he could do anything." Shinji taunted, not noticing that his book was fading, "Now stay still or the whore gets it." As Shinji pressed the blade into Sakura's neck-intending to spill a little blood-Rider pulled his arm away and forced it behind his back, "What the-Rider, what the hell are you doing?"

"Do you not remember my words to my Master? As long as her life is not in danger, I shall follow the owner of the book. You put her life in danger." Rider smirked as a loud pop was heard and Shinji screamed, "As a threat, you must be eliminated." She stomped on his neck and with a crack Shinji went limp. The Blood Fort disappeared.

Archer rushed over to Sakura.

"Are you okay?" He asked, worry evident on his face though only for a moment.

"I'm fine." Sakura answered with a smile.

'_Seriously, Onii-chan. Those two have to be together. You can tell. I suggest you give up on her.'_ Shirou looked away as he remembered Ilya's words before Sakura and Archer had come into the living room on the night Tohsaka had died.

How could he just give up though? He'd had a crush on Sakura for years.

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Archer's Perspective_

'_Archer, what is she talking about? Emiya doesn't have any siblings._' Rin asked Archer who sighed.

'_His adoptive father has a biological daughter who is part homunculus. She's older than he is but doesn't look it._' Rin looked over at her Servant, _'There really was nothing wrong with it, and Assassin misunderstood the situation anyways._' He explained to his Master. She frowned, her look practically screamed 'explain' so he sighed, '_She seemed like an honest girl but she filled my head with lies then threatened those I cared about to make me spend time with her. I never got to explain to them. She even performed blood rituals on me until the only way I could do anything other than protect and love her was in thought. It's seriously diminished now but obviously has some effects still._'

'_So the one Assassin forced you to kill?_' Rin asked to be sure.

'_It was her. Her magic made it hard for me to kill her and afterwards my body and heart grieved while my mind wanted out. I can't say that I never felt anything for her but I can guarantee that the source of it was never real. Thanks to Assassin I never got the chance to explain the situation and out loud I can't even say anything other than what she believes is the truth._' Archer scowled as Rin stared at him.

'_We should kill her this time around so it doesn't affect you._' Rin said, Archer shook his head slightly.

'_I can't, I'll automatically protect her. Besides, if you want the grail you can't kill her since she is the container for the grail._' Rin's eyes widened.

'_So I got a defective Servant?_' She scowled, that wasn't right.

'_I will protect you over her, and I can still kill her Servant with no problems._' Rin nodded then turned back to everyone else-who at this point had been observing the silent conversation.

"We'll find this Gilgamesh and kill him. After that, this alliance is over." Rin decided, the others nodded, "And I don't trust you for a second." Rin pointed at Assassin as she said this. The woman seemed amused.

"Oh, don't worry. The only thing I really want to do is find my younger self and keep her from going through what I did." Assassin said with an unexpected smile, "That and torment your Servant more." And the kind smile turned evil.

"Where do we find him, though?" Emiya asked.

"Don't worry. We know where to find him." Assassin said with a smirk.

_Archer's Torment_

_Sakura's Perspective_

"Did you have to kill him?" Sakura asked Rider. She felt a little drained from having both of her Servants out, but fortunately Archer didn't take much as his magical circuits created plenty of mana from just a little of hers.

"He would have just demanded another book if I had let him live." Rider answered. She was right, but Sakura didn't want to be the one responsible for her brother's death.

'_It's not your fault. He's the one that endangered you when knowing that your Servant put your safety above his._' Sakura frowned, '_Listen to me, you are not to blame. We need to get out of here before everyone wakes up._' Sakura nodded at Archer.

"Let's go." Archer and Rider dematerialized and Sakura dragged Shirou to the stairs.

"We're just going to leave him?" Shirou asked, looking back at Shinji.

"We can't be blamed for this." Sakura stated, her entire body was shaking but she was holding firm. Shirou nodded and they were out of the school where Saber met up with them before any students woke up.

"It has been dealt with?" Saber asked, Sakura nodded weakly. They made it two blocks before they were stopped.

"Well, that's quite the little army you two have built up." They knew that voice. Both Sakura and Shirou turned towards the blue man while Saber, Archer, and Rider all seemed ready for the defensive, "Question is; who gets the grail if you win? There are so many of you…why not just fight now to decide it?" The man grinned, "And Archer, you moved on so fast from your last Master. She wasn't that great, was she? Easy to replace. Your current Master doesn't seem too much better though." Even with him astralized, everyone could feel Archer's killing intent towards the spearman, "Tell ya what, my Master wouldn't mind another Servant and then we could spar when we're not busy."

Archer appeared with his bow ready.

"I hope you and your Master both burn in hell." Archer held out his hand, "**I am the bone of my sword.**" A red arrow appeared in his hand. Lancer grinned.

"You're going to use a projectile against me?" He laughed and took a defensive stance as Archer nocked his arrow. The red arrow started to drain the area around it, the air seemed to turn red and an aura of pure death surrounded it. Lancer dropped his guard slightly, staring at the arrow, "No." He muttered in shock before angrily taking up a defensive stance, "No, you couldn't do that to it. There's no way. It has to be a fake." Archer smirked and said two words before releasing the red arrow. The name of the Noble Phantasm he had modified for a direct hit against one who could defend against projectiles. His trump card as an archer that he would have never been able to manage without the circuits he had gotten from Sakura. Archer said the two words Lancer had hoped he wouldn't.

"Gae Bolg!"

**Why has no one thought of having Archer create Gae Bolg into an arrow? It's perfect. He does have great accuracy but every now and then there has to be someone who could get past that. Then again, it would take a lot of mana-something that version of Archer has since he has a portion of a holy grail within him. This isn't a broken phantasm that will explode on contact but a remade noble phantasm that he's had practice with. I have come up with one way for Lancer to defend it, if anyone can guess it then I will have him do that and he won't die, otherwise the first Servant shall be out of Torment**

**Also now Shinji is dead in both versions XD**

**I knew that I wanted Shirou to have a crush on Sakura in Torment and that I wanted him to be with Ilya…..I just didn't realize that was how it was going to work until I typed it O.o**

**Also, though you may not have noticed it I have given a lot of hints as to who Assassin is, I'm starting to feel that keeping it a secret is more of a hassle than it should be(mostly because it feels like people will be judging me for making her as strong as she is when it makes perfect sense to me) but I want more people to try and guess before I reveal it…..no one even tried to guess the quote from last chapter**

**Torment Archer: That's because no one cares.**

**Aria: No, they have to care! **

**Assassin: They care about as much as they care about the random characters in the prologue of the game that never show up again. Can I kill them?**

**Rebirth Archer: I'll kill you first.**


	6. Chapter 5 Child of the Swordsmith

**I just want to say I'm sorry about the wait….I did say that I needed motivation….**

**I know it's no excuse but I started with waiting to see if I got more reviews because one of the first things in the chapter would have changed the entire thing if someone had managed to guess how I decided Lancer could block it or if they came up with something new(My answer being him using his own Noble Phantasm and targeting his Gae Bolg at the arrow, even if cause and effect are reversed the most recent effect would be the lasting one) Then I started looking into the mechanics of the Nasuverse a bit more which made me realize that I was completely wrong in practically everything I understood about it XP I knew my mana/magical circuits thing was off that people were using prana or od and I didn't want to bother going into that simply because it would be a fucking pain. After looking into more things I debated over completely rewriting the bit I have written so that I wouldn't have to worry about it later on. Eventually I realized that if I did then this entire story would be impossible in the first place. Therefore I have decided to just say 'to hell with it' and have a story that would make the more devoted Fate/Stay Night fans twitch. This decision took entirely too long in my opinion and I lost one of the few likes I've gotten. Even with all that wait and the 150-ish people who have gotten to the last chapter I still only got a single review. Definitely lowers motivation.**

**To answer something brought up in the one review I did get, Lancer's ability is basically that he can deflect any projectiles. Therefore a homing sword like Hrunting or an anti-immortality sword like Harpe wouldn't work against him in my opinion. A Broken Phantasm would probably work but Archer was trying to avoid harming those around him since it was close combat. My perspective makes me believe that only an unblockable move-like Gae Bolg-would work as a non-explosive projectile against Lancer.**

**As for anything else I mention. I've decided that since I've claimed 'to hell with it' to the Nasuverse I shall also say 'to hell with it' for Servant Stories. I was only gonna change small things for them originally but my lack of motivation only left me one idea as far as what I'm changing goes so that's what I'm going with.**

**Also, I know there's going to be confusion over me using king to describe both Gilgamesh and Saber in the next bit but since I don't want to type out King of All Heroes or King of Knights for every use, and at least the beginning is in Gilgamesh's perspective(still haven't quite figured out what I'm doing when typing this), he will be King while Saber is king. Gilgamesh would see himself as a greater king than any other and would probably put more emphasis on his so he is King with a capital K XP**

**Torment of Rebirth**

Chapter 5

Child of the Swordsmith

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Gilgamesh's Perspective_

Gilgamesh stood atop the Fuyuki Bridge, staring down at the residential side of the city. His subjects were resting peacefully for the most part-only because he allowed them to-however there seemed to be a house on the northern end of Miyama town that still had many lights on despite the late hour. The King couldn't go threaten his subjects into sleeping-not yet anyway-but he did feel annoyed at the blatant disrespect that family had for following the wills of those greater than them. He would find out who lived there and take care of them once he had claimed his kingdom and hopefully his bride.

The evil priest claimed that his Saber should have been summoned once again; he had been waiting ten years for his response and could barely stand to wait for the opportune time to reveal himself to her. Gilgamesh couldn't wait for his chance to beat Arturia Pendragon into submission. The proud king would be one of his prized possessions though her worth would diminish once she had broken. The golden archer had been with many women throughout his long life and Saber had been the only one that impressed him. Most of his women had been hoping to lay claim on his throne by producing an heir for him but Gilgamesh had always made sure that wouldn't happen. His eyes had been able to see past those of humans or even Gods, and in his whole life, Gilgamesh had only had one child. A child who had been killed soon after. Arturia would have the privilege of actually bearing his heir if the Servant's body would allow it-which it should once she drank from the grail.

The King of All Heroes twitched as he noticed the lights at the northern house go out-not so that the residents could go to sleep but so that the four could walk out. Instantly he ignored the three Masters and the two hidden Servants, his eyes went to the blonde. A grin broke out over his face as his all-seeing eyes recognized the face of his Saber. She walked straight and strong, ready to protect her Master if necessary. Even as the three Master and Servant sets turned so they were walking towards him, Gilgamesh still registered nothing but Saber.

The King of Knights noticed eyes on her and her gaze met his own. Gilgamesh's grin widened while Saber's narrowed. The false priest would have to deal with him revealing himself early; it seems he has already been found. Saber opened her mouth to speak and though Gilgamesh couldn't hear it, he saw the other two servants turn towards him.

The Faker, the Abomination, and His Saber all were staring at him. The younger Faker seemed to be able to spot him as well. There was some more talk before the three Servants rushed for him with the Masters following at a slower pace. It seems they were going to challenge him. The mongrels actually wanted to fight their king.

Let them.

Saber and the Abomination sped up past the Faker. Gilgamesh could hardly believe that thing was faster than His Saber, but the snake had a habit of running more than fighting anyhow. A true fighter needed strength, not speed. As they approached Gilgamesh fired a few unimportant swords at them.

Of course, for him a few was about fifty and unimportant swords were Noble Phantasms of B rank or lower.

Saber knocked those aimed at her away, Assassin dodged the blades, and Archer matched blade for fake blade those directed at him. Archer then grabbed one of his fakes and using a fake bow shot a fake arrow at Gilgamesh. The King just knocked it away with one golden hand before blocking a blow from Saber as she appeared in front of him. The snake appeared behind him, aiming a kick for his head-not with her shin as a round house but aiming with her heel. Gilgamesh batted her away by hitting the side of her leg with the back of his hand. He heard a hissing sound and stared as part of his gauntlet melted away. Assassin landed on her opposite leg and frowned, holding where he had hit her not from pain but a reason he couldn't figure out.

However, he couldn't ponder long as he had to once again catch a strike from Saber-the back of his gauntlet was gone but the fingers and palm were still there so he could still use it.

As Gilgamesh blocked blows from Saber and the occasional arrow from Archer as he got closer, Assassin frowned, looking at her leg. Where the gauntlet had hit her skin was turning black from the remnants of the curse in his armor. Assassin winced and filled her hands with holy light, pushing the curse out of her leg and into the air. As long as she wanted to avoid that, she really was useless in this fight as all her possible attacks revolved around that ability and she couldn't borrow a weapon from Archer. With her left hand she grabbed the tips of two strands of hair, pulling the red needles from her black hair. She didn't know if they'd work against Gilgamesh at all but it was the only option she had. Assassin glanced over at Archer who seemed surprised that the red strands were actually weapons and smirked at him before turning back to the fight.

Saber was attacking with all her might, the two she was fighting with were natural supporters and she relied on their ability to do just that. So far the worst damage that had been done was by Assassin against Gilgamesh's armor but that had seemed to harm the masked Servant more than it had the King of Heroes.

Gilgamesh vaguely noted that the Faker and the Abomination were now within a few meters but his focus was entirely on Arturia. A grin covered his face as he watched his chosen wife fight against him. He saw another arrow coming from the Faker and decided to throw this one back at him with a sword following after. The Faker destroyed his arrow almost as if by habit, focusing on something that seemed to be moving towards Gilgamesh. The King decided to find out what was moving and saw two red streaks shooting towards him. He dodged, Saber's attack managing to scrape along the chest of his armor before the needles passed where his head would have been. They landed on the road past where the two were fighting and it collapsed in on itself. Gilgamesh turned to look at the abomination again before his nostrils flared.

Apparently the Faker had been too distracted to notice his follow-up blade until it was almost too late, managing to get clipped on the arm. The fact that there was blood barely meant a thing, however…..

"Smell something familiar?" Assassin asked the King and suddenly he glared at the treacherous snake.

"What did you do?" He demanded from her. Saber and Archer seemed confused from the latest development.

"Not a thing." Assassin smirked, "It's not my fault slaves can't seem to follow such simple orders." Gilgamesh turned to the Faker with hatred in his eyes.

"I'll destroy you." Gilgamesh growled, not even realizing as he was reaching into the Gate of Babylon for his favored weapon.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Gilgamesh glared at the practically singing Assassin, "After all, your deal was a weapon that could only be used by you for a child. The weapon working depends on the bloodline of both you and the daughter of the sword-smith that the gods had forge the blade so it could exist in the mortal plane."

"How long did you spy on me you repulsive reptile?" The King growled at her.

"Long enough to know that blade would explode if you tried to kill him with it; it would destroy everything within a fifty mile radius except for him." Gilgamesh grit his teeth. He had known the deal meant he couldn't kill anyone who held his blood, that was why he'd had a slave drown the thing.

Saber sent an attack for the scratch she had made in Gilgamesh's armor and the King absentmindedly blocked it. At the same time Archer had sent a spiraling arrow. Saber jumped back, sensing that she shouldn't be anywhere near it as Assassin smirked. Gilgamesh dodged to the side easily where Assassin managed to appear behind him and scrape a needle along the back of his armor before jumping away. Gilgamesh turned to target the masked Servant, his armor collapsing in on itself as he did so.

He pulled out the monster-killing holy sword that he was told was used to kill Medusa after it was removed from his treasury. Assassin had apparently not expected her needles to have any repercussions on her from attacking the Golden King but she had been wrong. Whatever those needles were, destroying his armor had caused the snake to cough up blood, a perfect opportunity for Gilgamesh to behead the Abomination.

Archer caught sight of the odd hook-like blade and smirked. He could instantly tell that it should work against Assassin and now it was in his arsenal.

"You killed me once, snake. Why is it that now merely touching me causes you such pain?" The Golden King demanded of the kneeling Abomination. Harpe's blade around her throat and ready to behead the thing. Assassin laughed, the black in her throat spreading and somehow changing her voice.

"Angra Mainyu." Gilgamesh frowned, the name unknown yet familiar to him.

But he hadn't been able to figure out why as three arrows of the blade he now held struck him. One through the destroyed back of his armor straight into his heart, one in the back of his neck, and one straight through his brain.

As the Golden King fell, Saber checked on Assassin, a single touch to the creature's neck removed the taint and caused Saber's gauntlet to dissolve as Gilgamesh's had.

_Archer's Torment_

_Shirou's Perspective_

"Gae Bolg!" The same words that led to Tohsaka's death were said now. Shirou instantly turned to Sakura, fearing the worst.

"Ngh!" It wasn't the girl who was stabbed. Shirou turned to see Lancer who looked completely stunned that the arrow had pierced through his heart exactly. The blue-haired Servant fell back as his eyes stared at the red Servant. Archer walked up as the downed Servant tried to get back up, "That was for killing Rin." He growled low, tracing two blades in a single hand then shifting them as the merged together. The twin swords were reunited even if only for a moment, "And this…" Archer spoke quiet enough that none but Lancer could hear me, "This is for my first death." He shot the black and white arrow into Lancer's head. For a moment the image stayed before the Servant dissolved. Archer could tell the essence of the hero was heading for the nearest grail but he pushed it away, forcing it to ignore Sakura and instead head in the opposite direction.

Shirou stared at the spiral arrow still embedded into the ground until it disappeared.

"Three to go." Rider reminded them. After those three were gone then things would have to be settled among the current group, "And the witch on the mountain seems the perfect place to start." Shirou turned to the purple haired woman, "Though we must be careful if we challenge her." Even if the woman was blindfolded, Shirou could feel her eyes on him, "That witch knows men inside out."

"The mountain….as in Ryudou Temple?" The woman nodded at Shirou's question.

"There's a guardian at the gate." Rider added in confirmation.

"That temple is a place magi can call sacred. I hear it is where the life of the region flows to, so it would be a perfect base to collect souls from. A magus need only to intervene in the natural flow to collect life forces from the whole city." Saber explained as if she knew the place, Shirou pushed that thought aside in favor of another revelation.

"The gas leaks aren't really gas leaks, are they?" Shirou asked plainly, everyone else shook their head 'no' as if that had been obvious and they couldn't believe he had just realized it, "I would say that we should take care of it as soon as possible…" The frown he had on his face said it all. Sakura hugged Archer as he arrived at the group and the red servant paled for a moment before gently pushing her away.

They had somewhere important to be the next morning and couldn't risk missing it.

Absently, Shirou reached into his pocket.

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Assassin's Perspective_

After Saber accidentally healed the woman, Assassin recovered easily.

"Sorry about your gauntlet." She muttered, looking at the blonde king's hand.

"What was he freaked out about at the end?" Archer demanded, walking up. Their Masters were still en route and quite far away.

"Your blood." Archer frowned, "He had a single child in his life, with the daughter of the greatest human sword-smith to ever have existed. He thought the child killed long before he even received the weapon that was the trade for it." Assassin stood and glanced at the fallen King, "So to smell his own blood-however faint-within your own was an insult to him."

"So Gilgamesh is…." Archer frowned, staring at the man.

"Descendant of the King who owned everything and the best sword-smith ever. Your Reality Marble making sense yet?" Assassin laughed, "You're the last of your family, your mother died in childbirth so I had myself reborn to be able to personally guarantee the insult to him continued." She expanded upon her explanation earlier.

"And the weapon you mentioned?" Saber asked, an odd expression on her face.

"It was created by the gods but it had to have something to bind it to the human world. They needed Gilgamesh's blood mixed with a human's. Ea cannot destroy the bond to the earth and will do all it can to protect that bond." Assassin shrugged as Gilgamesh finally started to disappear.

"And Angra Mainyu?" Archer asked, having caught the name she mentioned.

"Has a limited existence. It's not like his essence was released into the world like it had been for our time. I've vaporized every trace I can find." Archer frowned at the woman who seemed unwilling to truly answer anything. She turned and rushed for their Masters as the three appeared, "All taken care of." The Servant smiled brightly at her Master, "Shall we go home, Master?" Sakura nodded absentmindedly and the two left.

Soon after they returned, Sakura fell asleep and Assassin went outside to watch the stars.

"You know, you've never been able to sneak up on me." She announced easily, Archer materialized watching the woman, "More questions? I thought I had been more than fair about this."

"What did I do?" Assassin laughed, "Seriously, you told them one thing but if the entire reason you started a new life was so you could distort Gilgamesh's legacy then you wouldn't have done so much. If all you wanted was for me to have a family, you could have left things alone. Your explanation makes no sense." Archer frowned at the woman.

"And why should it matter?" Assassin responded easily.

"Sakura, Neko, Issei , Ayako, Sella, Leysritt, Fuji-nee, Ilya….They're why it matters." Archer whispered the names as if they were cherished memories, "Them and the nameless thousands you killed." Assassin scoffed at him.

"Each time I killed so many I was building back up the power to regenerate. Each time you tried to kill me I killed a hundred so I could heal myself the next time. You killed them as much as I did." Archer's eyes widened as the woman smirked, "If my only goal had been to be a proper age to mate with you then I would have left my memories intact. I removed them for a reason and it took something drastic to unlock them once again."

"Then what was your goal?" Archer demanded. Assassin laughed again.

"Doesn't matter." She sing-songed at him, "I promised my Master that I wouldn't kill any humans so I won't. I may manipulate some into dying…." Archer growled and shot towards Assassin. The Servant didn't move, allowing the curved blade to be placed around her neck and stuck into the tree behind her, "Aw, wanna play with your new toy already? Wouldn't poor Ilya-chan but upset that you're playing with someone other than her? Oh. Right." Assassin laughed at her as Archer let go of the blade of Harpe he had used to trap the woman. Next to appear in his hand was a contraption made from three smaller versions of the blade connected by a metal rod and angled so that when he lifted one of her arms above her head it matched perfectly and he pushed the blades in once again. He did the same with her other arm so both arms and her neck were secured, "Bondage already, aren't we moving a bit fast, Shirou?" The woman laughed despite having multiple versions of the snake hunter's scythe pressed against her.

"In case you didn't know, this blade nullifies the undying attribute, all wounds from this have to heal naturally and I don't believe there is a natural way to grow back an arm or a head." Archer informed her with a growl, "Now you will tell me everything." Assassin only laughed, Archer pressed in on the blade around her neck so it cut the woman as she did so, "Why did you kill them? Why did you kill her…."

"Oh, you know why I killed Ilya. If you thought it was for any reason other than to force you to kill her then you're completely wrong." Assassin smirked at him.

"Not Ilya…." Archer frowned as Assassin's smirk started to fade, "Sakura. Ilya would have only lasted for another year then those damn rituals would have been useless." Rituals. That word stuck in Assassin's mind, "What could you have possibly had against her? Who are you to hate me so much that you had to do that to her?" As he said the last bit he tore off the mask, the face beneath it shimmered into its original form.

Archer froze completely.

"Not who you expected, am I?"

**Not quite how I planned things, but it just kinda fell in place. I know the thought of seeing Archer act like that is awkward, it was for me writing it and I wanted to change it but I felt like he had to show weakness there. I decided that this version of Archer didn't get access to Harpe until this time around so in the other version I'll just make sure that Gilgamesh doesn't use it when he's present. Not that hard if I plan it ahead of time. I would like to thank Devil Sword for mentioning that blade though. I knew I wanted Archer to pin her up against a tree so he could take the mask off but I didn't know how to make it something effective. Him mentioning it as a possible arrow brought the sword to my attention and I felt that if Gilgamesh had looked into the history(not so much for him) of some of his blades he would know that Harpe was used against Medusa and felt it appropriate for killing another snake.**

**That's not necessarily the order I will target his friends in and if I can find more of note then I will add more, I also went off of the assumption that if he was with Ilya he would get to know and care for Sella and Leysritt(who I know little more than their appearance and who they are but will look up more for when they come into play) **

**I screwed with Gilgamesh's story and the story of Ea so that I could have a reason for him to falter. **

**Also, more into Assassin's powers even if it's just possible consequences behind using them. **

**Question: Do you want me to keep a kill list? As in separate lists either at the separation between the two stories or in the author's notes so you can keep track of the characters who are dead without having to think about it?**

**Example:**

_Torment:_

SHIROU, _rin,_ SAKURA, _shinji,_ ILYA, KOTOMINE, KUZUKI, ZOUKEN

SABER, ARCHER, RIDER, BERSERKER, _lancer_, CASTER, ASSASSIN, GILGAMESH

_Rebirth:_

SHIROU, RIN, SAKURA_, shinji_, ILYA, KOTOMINE, KUZUKI, _zouken_

SABER, ARCHER, RIDER, BERSERKER, LANCER, CASTER, ASSASSIN, _gilgamesh_

**And other major players for the individual ones being added. I may have missed a couple in this demo but I just did it off the top of my head so it could easily be wrong. Also, a better way to style it would be welcome. I was gonna do strike throughs but that doesn't seem to be allowed on ff  
**

**Also, now that Archer has seen, any guesses as to who Assassin is?  
Once again, I want to apologize for the long wait. I hope the fighting and explanations make it okay. Reviews will help prevent another long wait.(And to those who haven't noticed by now I am sticking firmly to alternating the stories instead of just changing perspective to change scenes in a single story)**


	7. Chapter 6 Tears from Brighter Days

**Yay! First time I got two reviews for one chapter XD One of them even guessed a Fate/Stay Night character(Whether or not they got it right though isn't for non-reviewers to know yet XP) **

**And since I have no way to reply to Devil Sword, I will do so here:  
I don't even know enough about Roa to realize that I was doing something different XP and I felt like Ea needed something to make it tie in rather than just be handed over by gods. I didn't take it as an attempt to stifle me, I was just explaining why it wouldn't work in my opinion. Thanks again, I don't see Harpe as a sword either, that's why I used it as a guillotine and restraints ;) Thank you for your continued reviewing **

**I will say now that I know nothing about the first topic on here. I have never been to one myself, let alone a Japanese one so I had to look it up. If anything is wrong, blame wikipedia for explaining it in a way I couldn't understand**

**I had a hard time with this chapter though, it's more of a transition then anything and it's also almost as far as I have planned out so I need to figure out my end-game...**

**Torment of Rebirth**

Chapter 6

Tears from Brighter Days

_Archer's Torment_

_Sakura's Perspective_

It should be raining.

Sakura stared at the woman in white. Her black hair was down, straight. It looked beautiful with the pure white kimono. But the image was wrong. Those eyes should be open. Her hair should be up in the standard pigtails. She should be wearing a red shirt and a black miniskirt.

Sakura should not be attending her sister's wake.

Despite the fact that they were family, Sakura could not take that position. Not when she was a Matou. So Rin had no one to sit as family, no one to arrange her funeral, no one to pick her bones out of her ashes. It was all handled by the estate. People who were going to get rich off of her having never thought to make a will. People who didn't care about Rin at all.

None of this was right.

Sakura should be able to offer incense to her sister directly. Sakura should be able to give her sister the funeral she deserved. Sakura should be able to hug her sister. Sakura should be able to see her sister smile. Sakura should be able to earn her sister's approval. Sakura should be able to be an actual sister to her sister.

Sakura's sister should not be dead.

Rin should be alive.

The Grail War was at fault. That cursed war that offered no peace to those inside it, no real chance to mourn those they cared about. Her brother was also dead because of that thing and despite everything he did to her, he was still her brother. She would be able to help at his funeral so why couldn't she help at her sisters?

Nothing was right; she wasn't supposed to be alone.

A hand squeezing hers reminded Sakura that she wasn't.

Archer had decided to materialize and support Sakura. It wasn't like she could hug anyone, the grail within her would drain anyone she touched, she was just lucky that Archer was the way he was. While the Servant created an odd image by her side, no one judged them. He wore the proper suit and he appeared to mourn as well even though Sakura could tell that when he started to the emotion was drained away from him. Support was needed for all and they wouldn't judge any who were distraught from receiving support from another mourner.

The two walked along as Shirou observed her sister. He obviously blamed himself.

Maybe he should.

Sakura had been shown by Archer the life they could have had. If only Rin hadn't shown up and ordered her Servant to protect Shirou. Archer obviously felt guilty as well since he had been the one who hadn't protected her but he had been ordered. A command seal is impossible to ignore. Sakura knew that Shirou would have been fine on his own. Archer had shown her that Saber would have arrived in time to protect him.

Then they all could've been together happily.

Now her sister was gone. Before she could accept Sakura back. Before she could free the tormented girl from the family she had been forced into. Before she could die alongside her sister, never having to grieve.

Now Rin was dead and Sakura had to survive.

And it was all Shirou's fault.

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Archer's Perspective_

"Not Ilya…." Assassin kept misunderstanding Archer; she had already said that was why… "Sakura. Ilya would have only lasted for another year then those damn rituals would have been useless." She had taken Sakura right when he could have had her back, right when he had figured out that the Servant the girl had been so attached to had actually been an alternate version of himself, "What could you have possibly had against her? Who are you to hate me so much that you had to do that to her?" He had to know who hated him so much they tore away his only chance of redeeming himself to the girl, Archer had wanted so bad to explain to the girl what was going on and never got the chance, all because of….

Archer pulled off the mask. He had long since figured out that it had a spell on it, probably to keep anyone from recognizing her.

And recognize her he did.

With the mask off her face shifted to its original form and her eyes stopped shifting colors. Despite everything, he recognized that face.

"Not who you expected, am I?" Assassin mocked despite her current state of being attached to a tree. Dumbly Archer reached up to the ribbon holding up her hair, as it was pulled off her hair fell, the magic attaching the red needles removed causing them to fall and her hair returned to its natural state. She looked exactly as she had that bright and depressing day, "Oh come now, Shirou. Enough foreplay." He didn't notice as Assassin shifted how she was standing.

"But you're….." Archer trailed off. Assassin smirked and pulled her right arm. The blades along it sliced three chunks off of her arm but she didn't even notice while Archer's eyes widened at seeing Her being sliced apart.

"Dead?" Assassin asked, skin seemed to peel off of the rest of her body, gathering around her right shoulder and moving around her clothes and the blades. The three chunks of her arm raised off the ground and placed themselves in the right position, "It didn't stick." The shed skin wrapped around the severed arm and reattached it. Assassin reached up and pulled out the blade around her throat with her newly reattached arm, "It rarely does." She pulled out the blades around her other arm with a wide smirk. It didn't look right on that face, "Now, if you don't mind." Assassin grabbed both the mask and the ribbon, "I have a glove to remake." She gestured lightly to the black glove on her right arm that was cut in the same places her arm had been only minutes prior. The fabric was covered in blood though one glance at her arm through the cuts showed she wasn't.

Assassin placed her mask on her face once again and left as Archer still stared at where her face had been.

Of everyone, he had never once suspected Her. Why did it have to be Her?

_Archer's Torment_

_Shirou's Perspective_

She still hasn't let go of him. Shirou watched as Sakura clung to Archer. He knew a wake wasn't the place to get jealous but he couldn't help it. Who was this Archer? Some famous myth that she had been fangirling over her whole life? Was it hero-worship because he had helped her with whatever it was she was suffering from?

"They do make a cute couple, don't they, Onii-san?" Shirou jumped as Ilya appeared beside him, her white hair and black kimono creating an odd appearance that was opposite the girl in the coffin.

"He's too old for her." Shirou muttered after getting over the shock of the white girl.

"He does seem about twice her age, but people care for who they care for." Shirou glanced down at the Einzbern with an odd expression, "Isn't that right, Onii-san?" She smiled at him sweetly.

With Saber staying home, Archer focused on Sakura, and Rider being trapped and confronted by an angry Zouken, no one noticed as Shirou's body went stiff and was moved away.

When his absence was noticed, everyone assumed he just went home. When he wasn't home everyone assumed he had gone for a walk. When he wasn't back by the next day, then the panicking began.

For Shirou, his world was almost entirely black. He could feel a circle being drawn on and around him, and based on the pain in his wrist and the weakening he felt, some of it was drawn with blood. Words he couldn't understand were said and there was a flash visible through his blindfold before he felt more marks being painted on him.

This continued for two days.

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Saber's Perspective_

"Angra Mainyu…" Saber muttered to herself as she walked back with her Master. She knew about the Persian devil who was the source of all the evil in the world but what did the greatest devil of Zoroastrianism have to do with Assassin and Gilgamesh?

"What was that, Saber?" Shirou asked, turning to her.

"Something Assassin said hurt her." Saber explained, "Angra Mainyu."

"Didn't Assassin mention something about absorbing 'him'?" Shirou remembered from the earlier conversation.

"And eating until the whole world was absorbed and that wouldn't be enough." Saber confirmed with a nod.

"Maybe that's what she meant, but a devil does seem a stretch…." Shirou puzzled. After a few minutes he shrugged it off, "We'll figure it out when we get to it." Saber smiled.

"Don't worry, Master. No matter who we're up against, I will win the grail for you." Shirou smiled back at the Servant. When they arrived back at Shirou's home, Saber frowned.

"What's wrong?" Shirou noticed his Servant's hesitation.

"I cannot tell, Master. Something feels off." Shirou took another look at the gate before a chill went up his spine.

The alarm announcing if someone wanted to cause him harm was untouched. The aura around the house, however, was distorted. Saber could not tell what was wrong but she did know that she didn't want her Master anywhere near it. She was about to tell Shirou that they should leave when he apparently decided it was worth testing. The moment he touched the gate his eyes went red and he fell. Before Saber could even catch him, a woman in black appeared and caught him. Long purple hair hung in the air for a second as crystalline eyes with rectangular pupils turned to meet Saber's.

The king froze, unable to move as the purple and black Servant left with her Master.

_Archer's Torment_

_Sakura's Perspective_

She had barely slept, the only reason she had even tried was because Archer had insisted. At least Rider had promised to look for him all night. Sakura wouldn't be able to handle another loss. As soon as an appropriate hour was reached, Sakura got dressed and started to head out the still ruined gate.

Only to stop as she saw the red haired magus lying just outside.

"Emiya-senpai!" Sakura rushed over to the sleeping magus, shaking him.

"Ilya." He muttered in his sleep and Sakura froze, not even realizing that her hands were touching bare skin.

She didn't notice until she heard an odd choking sound and looked down to see Shirou looking oddly drained. Archer pulled Sakura back and placed a hand on the Master, allowing some mana to seep into the magus.

"Ilya." Sakura muttered, still staring at him. Archer glanced up, "Why would he mention her? She's supposed to die before he has a chance to really know her." Archer sighed.

"Sakura, every reality is different. Remember, Rin lived past the war for me." He reminded his Master.

"Then is this your fault?" Sakura demanded, "Did you create some change to make this happen?" Archer sighed again, wondering if showing Sakura his past was the right move. It was the easiest way to get her to trust him but it seemed she had been counting on things turning out similar despite the fact that Rin had already died.

"Things were changed before I even noticed." Archer replied, picking Shirou up, "And by then there was nothing I could do to change it." He brought the boy into the house as Sakura trailed along behind him, "Tell Rider she can stop looking, I'll go find Saber once we make sure he's okay." Sakura nodded, passing the message onto her first Servant, "After that, I believe we need to start training you to hold it back, you nearly killed him yourself."

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Rin's Perspective_

Rin opened her eyes before he even entered the room. Her Servant knew right away that she was conscious but he made no move to talk.

"And?" Rin demanded. She had known what Archer was planning; their connection had been open during the fight with Gilgamesh so she could figure it out easily.

"She can still come out unharmed. Only thing damaged was her glove." As Archer spoke, the words didn't have the hate she'd come to expect when he talked about Assassin. He was also looking at Rin with a different expression than she was used to.

"Why did you cut me off when you went there?" Rin sat up, not even attempting to hide the fact she had been watching.

"I had to confront her personally, it was my own business." Archer glanced away, obviously troubled.

"What did you find out?" She had been able to find out some of his past but Archer always avoided telling her what he knew unless asked directly.

"She has to store mana in order to be able to regenerate. She claims to have promised her Master that she wouldn't harm humans but I wouldn't trust that." Archer glanced at Rin once again, his expression a mix of worry and regret, "Hopefully she will move on a Servant to get that energy, but I have no way of knowing."

"Archer, who is she?" Rin knew he was avoiding it. She knew he had been determined to find out when he cut her off.

"Someone from my past who I apparently hurt without realizing it." Rin growled at his indirect answer.

"What is her name? Tell me!" She knew that the command seal she had used to make him obedient would be weighing on him.

"She's…." Archer started. He was interrupted as a figure crashed in through the window. As the woman straightened, Archer's eyes widened, "Rider." He froze as Cybele focused on him. He hadn't expected Medusa to be summoned since Sakura hadn't summoned her.

Apparently he was wrong.

Rin didn't even have time to react as the Servant moved for her, still staring at Archer. While he knew of the eyes and the surprise of them shouldn't allow them to be that effective, he hadn't been expecting her to be here at all, that nearly made up for it.

Nearly.

Fortunately, he had been told by Medusa herself how to avoid it. He couldn't look at her nor could he see her with his mind's eye. For most people focusing on anything else in this situation would be impossible, but for Emiya Shirou who had an Origin of "Sword" and an Elemental Affinity of "Sword" and always had swords on the brain…..

Blades shot down from his eyebrows to cover his eyes as Archer imagined blades to create. He kept the image of those blades in mind as he felt the changes in the room around him and struck at the tall form before him. The sword-figure dropped its bundle of swords and moved towards the broken wall of swords. Archer threw a sword at the sword-figure and it jumped out. He waited, stretching his senses to find the sword-figure and found no trace.

Only then did he allow himself to relax. The blades retracted from his eyebrows and he held his holy shroud against the bleeding. He glanced at the broken wall of swords-the window and saw that there was no one in the yard. Apparently the sword-figure-Rider had been able to jump through a hole created in the barrier around the house. Seems Caster had once again summoned herself a Servant. Behind him the bundle of swords squeaked. Archer shook his head, getting the last of the sword-focused thoughts out of his head before turning back to Rin.

"What was that?!" She demanded, looking out the window.

"A Servant trying to abduct a Master. That doesn't bode well." Archer muttered.

**Hehe, you don't find out XD**

I feel like I gave enough hints to push it one of three ways for who Assassin is. If you can put it together is entirely up to you. I'm still deciding whether or not I'll be saying it next chapter, but I know one thing that I want to happen in there and that's it so motivation would definitley helpful

**Once again, if I butchered the japanese funeral/wake thing then I'm sorry...I tried to focus more on Sakura actually realizing that the future Archer showed her wasn't going to happen because in my head she was still focusing on it too much and relying on everything to turn out that way despite the fact that she knew Rin had died for her to get Archer in the first place. As for emotional scenes...they aren't my forte so be sure to let me know if you think I covered it well, I have a mix of feeling it fit perfectly and feeling that no one will understand how it's supposed to come across cause my mind has always worked differently from everyone else's and I've never been able to pick up on what people consider common sense as far as emotional reactions...it makes me seem rude when I just don't understand how it would come across that way.**

**But that's besides the point. I'm kinda just pulling things outta my ass as far as storylines go and I have a bad habit of getting bored with a story when I get no feedback(Or my computer just decides it doesn't want me working on a story anymore if I've actually completed it and deletes everything. I've had that happen a few times and it sucks cause I try and re-write it and end up with half a page when I had four before) So reviews are definitely appreciated XD**

**Hopefully next chapter will be much smoother writing...which I doubt cause that bit with Rider was just me fishing for something to happen...**

**And yes, Rider is the same one we all know and love just summoned by Medea this time XD She obviously doesn't mind about using her eyes either. Do you like how I handled Archer being able to fight her? I had originally thought Saber should crash through the window talking about Shirou but I could come up with no reason for her to not just knock...**

**Well, I'm off to get dressed in something that shows more skin than Rider does(Thigh high boots are awesome, I love mine) to go sing Inside the Fire and Be Prepared for a karaoke contest. I would love to have a response by the time I get back but any and all reviews are appreciated XD**


	8. Chapter 7 Something Drastic

**So…I tried to post this last night(Well, 3:30AM when I finally finished it) and ff wouldn't let me, so here I'm trying again**

**I got five reviews since I posted that last chapter! That doubled my review count! I finally have more reviews than I do chapters!**

**So, to the people who I could respond to, I responded to their Reviews privately. Here's for the ones that I couldn't respond to**

**Devil Sword:**I'm sure I will get some complaints about Rider, especially after this. I don't know if I will ever fully explain what I've done(I don't know if I even fully understand what I've done) But I did state that I was saying 'to hell with it' in regards to the Nasuverse so I have that as a defense if anyone gets extra picky. They can complain about prana first XP Thanks again for your continued reviews and ideas. I really do appreciate it.

**Kurokaze:** I'm glad you're enjoying it. I am even changing my style as I'm writing this so that it fits the story more so I hope it doesn't change out of the range of what you like about it XD As for your question, SPOILERS XP I will respond as honestly as I can in PM but I won't spoil everything for other readers by responding on here. I will, however, say that the reason Rin wasn't on the list is because Rin got a Gae Bolg to the heart and was buried before Assassin ever showed herself, so it might be her and it might not. At the very least, you should find out soon.

**And then there's the fact that a correction to a review added another review XP Other than that though, I already responded to the others and told them if their guesses were right or wrong. I do want to apologize for the ending of this chapter though, it felt awkward to me but I couldn't find anything that felt less awkward…..**

**At this point I'm kinda just making shit up as I go along, no future plans. Have fun XD**

**Torment of Rebirth**

Chapter 7

Something Drastic

_Archer's Torment_

_Shirou's Perspective_

Shirou faded in an out of consciousness many times since he had been abducted. Every time he had been restrained-whether physically or magically changed-and couldn't retaliate. So when he woke up and found he was able to move, Shirou instantly attacked. He reached for the first weapon he can find and attacks the person next to him.

When Shirou finally realized it wasn't Ilya, he found Sakura being pinned down by him with a metal mixing bowl against her throat. The bowl had been reinforced instinctively so the edges would have been able to cut and the water it had once held in there was spilled all over his underclassman. Her eyes were wide with betrayal and that look froze him in place.

Then he realized there was a nail to his throat and the flat of a sword against his wrist to keep him from moving the bowl any closer.

"You will release my Master." Rider growled at him. Slowly Shirou pulled the bowl back as he kept his eyes away from Sakura's wet white shirt. He definitely didn't look. Not even a peak.

He sat back and sighed. Rider still held the nail to his throat while Archer checked on Sakura.

Shirou opened his mouth to say he was sorry, to say that Ilya snatched him and did something to him, to say that he was glad to be back, that he never meant to hurt Sakura. Instead, what came out was….

"I'm going to go see Ilya." Three pairs of eyes turned to look at Shirou as he himself looked confused, he opened his mouth again to say he wanted to do anything but that, he wanted to get away from her, he never wanted to see her again, he wanted to stay home with those he cared about, "See you at some point." And his traitorous body got up and left despite protests that he couldn't even voice.

Every step he tried to stop, tried to call out for help, anything. His body just kept moving on its own to a park near his house.

"Ah! Onii-chan!" Ilya was sitting there waiting for him, "You came!" There was no surprise in her voice. Shirou's body sat down and Ilya sat in his lap, "You're mine now Onii-chan." She smiled and placed a hand on his cheek. Shirou felt his heart speed up and his cheeks flush but he knew that was wrong. He knew he wanted away from this girl, "They're probably better off without you anyhow. You saw them together." Shirou struggled, trying to pull himself away. But his arms embraced the small girl in his lap, "It's better if you don't fight it. You're mine. So you're going to get your Saber and bring her to my castle. We're going to end this war my way; you'll be able to protect me once it gets past a certain point and once I have my prize we're going to live happily ever after." She kissed Shirou's cheek and jumped off, "Off you go, Onii-chan." He knew he would follow her directions.

His body did as she wished and there was nothing he could do about it.

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Assassin's Perspective_

Assassin laid on the roof of Matou Mansion, face towards the sky and right hand holding up the remains of her glove.

"Might be time to start getting serious." She mumbled to herself, the torn edges of her glove were still covered in blood. Before the Servant could finish pondering she sensed something odd with the boundary. She glanced over and saw purple, "Rider." Assassin smiled briefly before frowning. She made sure her mask was firm then shot for the opposing Servant. She managed to clash with the purple Servant before Rider could get into the mansion. As the two landed, Rider seemed confused that her eyes were not working on Assassin. Assassin smirked and tapped her mask, "Mystic Eye killing lenses. I knew someone who could control someone with her eyes. I didn't want her to use them against me." Rider frowned as Assassin studied the woman.

She wore the same outfit she had in Assassin's timeline but her entire body seemed to be covered in runes that were glowing red. Instead of the collar that Shinji had put on the Servant the previous time around, on Rider's neck was an odd glowing choker that held what looked like an ancient mirror shrunk down to a size that would fit. The mirror itself was surrounded in a red aura that seemed connected to the runes. Assassin herself had never studied runes but she could feel the pain radiating through the aura Rider held.

Rider launched towards Assassin who blocked the nail with a hand that glowed black. The nail seemed to be eaten by the black glow and Rider quickly released it. Assassin frowned. When she absorbed something or someone she could access the memories it held, and what it revealed about Rider….

"You can't talk." Rider gave her a look that on anyone else would have involved narrowed eyes in suspicion but for the Gorgon who couldn't close her eyes even slightly they remained open, "The way you had to be summoned….I'm sorry…..I took your place…." Rider frowned as Assassin made both of her hands glow black, "Maybe I can end the suffering she's forced upon you." Rider's expression seemed to fade as if she were listening to a message before she retreated. Assassin was cut off from following when some magic blasts were shot at Sakura's room in the mansion. The twisted Servant went to save her Master as the Gorgon escaped with her tormenter.

As Assassin was pushed back by the attacks, she caught the ledge of the window to Sakura's room to keep herself in place and glared at the hovering Caster.

Behind her, Assassin heard the window open.

"What's happening?" Sakura asked.

"Servants who seem to be trying to collect Masters." Assassin growled.

"Senpai…." Assassin's eyes widened. That meant the targets were Ilya-who she didn't care about, Rin-who had a Servant that knew how to deal with Rider, Kotomine-who she cared less for than Ilya, and Shirou. Saber would be able to eventually shake off the effects of Rider's Mystic Eyes but all the nimble Servant needed was a moment. Assassin looked up at Sakura, "Go check." Assassin nodded.

If she was going to seriously challenge two servants at once, her casual attire wasn't going to work….and her glove was ruined anyways.

Assassin launched off the wall, focusing her mana around her to summon her actual armor.

Assassin's armor was made from the same material Archer's was; her shoes were three inch heels with metal covering the heel and the toe; her greaves were solid black, the metal surrounded the entire lower half of her leg with a plate along the front to cover her knees; her chest-plate was form-fitting and attached to the back-plate through a series of buckles on one side, these buckles were well packed back into the armor so it couldn't be removed easily and a set of faulds hung off the front and back of her chest-piece to protect her waist and hips while a bevor covered the lower half of her face; tight chainmail sleeves made of that same material hung off the armpits of the chest plate leaving her shoulders and hands uncovered. Under Assassin's armor was a pair of simple dark purple pants and a black tank-top made from material specially designed to cushion blows when they hit the armor. Her mask she left in place. Normally she would either change it out for one that still had the eye disguising effects while being simpler but this was the only mask that had the Mystic Eye killing lenses and she might need that. As Assassin ran, she took out her hair ribbon and retied it in the back then focused her mana on growing dark purple needles out the back, she just might need the projectiles.

Of course, Assassin didn't know that Sakura had been the fourth target.

When she arrived it was to Archer cancelling out the effects on Saber. She must have caught it full force with no warning.

"Shirou!" Saber called, the look on her face said it had been a while since Rider left.

"They came after Sakura too. She's alright." Assassin said, Archer quickly turned to her then froze.

Good. He remembered it. Under her armor, Assassin smirked. Rin was analyzing her new armor.

"You change your entire outfit because of a glove?" Assassin glanced between the two. Archer had said some of what happened but didn't reveal her. Good.

"I figured it was time to get serious." She replied easily.

"What is she doing with Shirou?" Saber asked, trying to get back to the important conversation.

"The fact that they didn't take you means that they're not aiming to control you yet. They could rip off his arm and steal his command seals, they could…" Assassin started listing the possibilities until she was interrupted.

"What do you mean they?" Rin realized that she was talking plural while everyone else was talking singular.

"I was attacked by two; they retreated once they realized I could absorb them. Which is probably a good thing." Assassin muttered the last bit to herself but Archer caught it, "You should be able to handle her easily." Before they could protest, Assassin left. She had other priorities.

_Archer's Torment_

_Gilgamesh's Perspective_

The chained creature struggled to move. It had no mind, it had no true desires, all it had was instinct; instinct to kill, instinct to maim, and one single instinct to protect. But the one the creature desired to protect was nowhere near it. The creature had no motive, no reason to fight. One more life and the slaughter will be over. Its Master had been a fool, leaving this thing in the castle while she went to play. One more slash and he could claim that heart when she returned.

He could choose the vessel and it would be a vessel he desired instead of a false human. He would choose a vessel fitting for His Saber to drink from so she could remain by his side.

A single blade and the creature was gone. Its Master would know what happened and her foolish attachment to the creature would lead her straight back here.

It was only moments later the door opened, good. The girl had already been on her way back.

Only, it wasn't who he expected. It wasn't the grail he expected.

The one who came through the door didn't have white hair, it was purple.

"Well, if it isn't the enigma. Have you come to bow at your King's feet and beg to be killed like the vermin you are?" Gilgamesh sneered. The girl seemed surprised to see him. She turned to leave as the creature disappeared.

The creature's essence targeted the nearest grail. The girl froze as all the strength of Heracles entered her against her will. In that moment Gilgamesh attacked.

His hand shot straight into her chest. Purple eyes dulled.

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Shirou's Perspective_

"Two is better than nothing I suppose." Shirou opened his eyes. He was on a table, strapped down, "And we did get two of the best options." A glance to one side showed the fake priest in a similar situation-the priest's lack of a shirt drew his attention to the fact that Shirou had no shirt either-a glance to the other side made him pale.

In a tube that spread from ceiling to floor filled with a green liquid was Gilgamesh. His form was flickering but whenever he came close to fading a light would appear from the top then seep into his form.

"Ah, you're awake." Shirou looked up to see a woman in a cloak, "Just in time for testing, we're almost done hooking up the priest." Just as she said that, the tube made a weird sound then instead of light a dark muck came from the top, "Now, to start I will explain things to you so you know what we're doing. That Assassin let slip that the Archer in this fight is a blood relative of Gilgamesh here, and you were there when it was revealed who Archer is." Shirou's eyes widened as she smirked, "He also can create any weapon he sees. Before Gilgamesh here fades completely we're going to use your blood and the key to enter the Gate of Babylon. There we will make sure you observe the whole treasury, maybe take a few things if we can. After that, we'll see if implanting some of his cells into you changes anything. I was originally going to see if connecting him to multiple Masters would allow him to stay longer but it seems some of the Servants have experience dealing with my friend." The woman glanced over at the Servant that captured him.

She had on a blindfold that she hadn't had before.

"Now then, shall we begin?"

_Archer's Torment_

_Sakura's Perspective_

_I don't want to die._

_I don't want to die._

_I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die **I don't want to die** I don't want to die I DON'T WANT TO DIE I don't want to die_

_Don't die, don't die, don't die, don't want to die, no die I don't want to die, can't die, I don't want to die_

**_Pain so much pain don't want to die pain pain pain it hurts pain HUNGRY pain don't want to die_**_ pain don't want to die I don't want to die** die die die **_

_DON'T NO NO LIVE PAIN CAN'T DIE PAIN **KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL **KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL **KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN **don't want I don't want to die DON'T LET ME DIE I don't want to die **don't let me die don't don't don't food pain die can't live pain starve **LIVE LIVE LIVE LIVE LIVE **KILL PAIN KILL KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL die die die DIE DIE DIE DIE LET ME LIVE PAIN **DIE DON'T LET ME PAIN CAN'T NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONOOOOO_

_Can't die don't let me die pain die don't pain LIVE LIVE LIVE LIVE DIE DIE LIVE DIE LIVE DIE DON'T DON'T **KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL KILL PAIN KILL **I DON'T WANT TO DIE CAN'T DIE won't die don't let me die let me live live live life pain LET ME die need can't pain can't die_

_I don't want to die _

**I don't have to die.**

Dulled purple eyes sharpened and Sakura started to take energy from the invading mana. Gilgamesh's eyes widened and he tried to pull away, but couldn't. The more his arm was absorbed, the more the smirk on the teen's face widened.

The King cut off his arm.

As the last of the arm was absorbed, the wound in Sakura's chest closed but the area around it started turning black. The girl screamed as it started seeping its way into her veins. The further it got, the more the scream started sounding like laughter until what came from her mouth was a bizarre combination of screams and laughs that was an affront to nature. When the black veins spread up her neck and into her brains a change came over her. Purple eyes turned yellow as a snake's and her circular pupils turned into slits. The laughter stopped and the scream of pain turned into one of determination. A white light shot out of her body, sending the injured King into the wall.

Sakura fell to her knees, panting from exertion and the remnants of the pain.

**_Kill slaughter feed_**

**NO**

**_Let me feed me kill kill KILL KILL_**

**Not a chance.**

The consciousness in that power had burrowed deep enough that she couldn't force it out.

_Senpai? Save me….._

And the consciousness of the girl was still there too.

Archer finally caught up, the command seal placed on him had been to wait for Shirou to return. The moment the redhead had, he and Rider rushed to find Sakura. Since Archer knew the way, he had been faster.

As the snake looked over at the white haired Servant, it could only shake its head.

Looked like it was time to dive back in and try to drive the devil out, but it couldn't stay down for long.

If Sakura couldn't stabilize her heart, Angra Mainyu would always be in the background.

Archer caught Sakura as her body collapsed

**Hehe, I did say you should find out soon XP Congrats to Cherry Kariya for figuring it out**

**The wording at the end feels funky though…**

**What do you think of the armor I came up with? I wanted to make it similar to Archer's but personalized**

**I'm gonna put a list of the hints I can remember at the bottom of this author's note in case anyone wants to double check things they previously thought meant something else. However, I want to say this now. Archer said Sakura was cut to pieces. After Archer saw who Assassin was, she cut her arm to pieces XP**

**So craziness starts with Rin, throw in what she saw as Archer's promise, stir with jealousy towards Ilya, bake with Shirou nearly killing her, and a bit of Angra Mainyu's consciousness within her own is just the icing on top of the crazy Sakura cake. Do you think it works? Because it's still not done yet.**

**I honestly sat for hours staring at the computer screen trying to figure out what Caster wanted with Shirou. Then I realized that I never said Gilgamesh actually fully disappeared and shortly after I started it, I had them walk away.**

**Do you like my Angra Mainyu talk? I won't be going that far again but Shirou's about to get implanted with cells cursed by Angra Mainyu. Also, if it wasn't obvious, because of Assassin already having some devil bits in her brain she is extra susceptible to it.**

**Before I go into my completely unnecessary but possibly wanted fact finding mission, do you think Sakura fits who I portrayed now that you have a good idea of how it all came to be? I had to find some way to shock the snake out that wouldn't have happened in Heaven's Feel, do you think it worked or do you think it wasn't enough? Let me know what you think, Review!**

**Chapter-by-chapter hint review(might be missing some and not including this chapter cause any hints that show it here pretty much say it)**

Preview

-absolutely none

Chapter 1

-Knew to kill Zouken and Shinji before they had a chance to say anything

-Used the same light ability she used in this chapter to get rid of the taint/already knew how to remove it(That ability is the only one Assassin uses that doesn't have any connection to Sakura's power, kinda have an explanation for it but that may change)

-"Two inches taller than Sakura with similar proportions" Not obvious, but intention was to show 'hey, it's Sakura just grown up' Also not obvious but her outfit is her colors mixed with Rin's

Chapter 2

-Injuries healing no matter what they were-Gilgamesh killed Sakura in Heaven's Feel, her limbs were only hanging on by skin but she was able to heal

-She knew Rin was killed by Lancer when most others wouldn't have known

-When Archer was pulling Angra Mainyu out of Sakura a "black glow" went up his arms and spread through his veins. Not important now but noticeable later.

-Again, torn to pieces. It doesn't mean much other than making you dismiss her as a possibility right off the bat, but the best way to move freely is to fake your own death. However, since it was stated in the same chapter that she could heal from all injuries it wasn't as bad a push-away as it would have been otherwise

-Knew Sakura had been shown Archer's past and that it had hurt her

Chapter 3

-Her powers. A black aura(shadow) that eats(I believe I used that word at least a few times to try to hint) mana down to the base. Need I say more?

-The word torment in Sakura's perspective. I didn't use it much but I tried to make sure that word only showed up in the perspectives or words of Sakura, Archer, and Assassin

-Still a grail and abilities of it can be controlled but until then it will drain mana. I figured this with her powers in the same chapter would give it away. The shadow was always made of Sakura's natural powers

-"I have since learned how to control if I am reborn or if I simply regrow" the regeneration only actually started with Sakura, if she had a choice I don't think Assassin would've kept changing lives for as long as she did.

-"She had known everything there was to know about the girl in her previous life before that one little accident." Led you to believe it meant before she killed Sakura, actually meant before Angra Mainyu slipped into her mind, ah misdirection. Tis fun

-"Two enigmas" Gilgamesh grouped them the same because he could tell they were, just like he automatically called both Shirou and Archer fakers. He later calls Assassin an abomination, but I haven't decided if I'm doing more extra to cause that(Also, small thing, Assassin calls him a devil because he's got a trace of AM{cause I'm tired of typing out the full name} in him, I didn't actually catch that until afterwards but I thought it was fun)

-"She had already removed the best option to defeat him[Gilgamesh]" That best option being Sakura consuming him with AM a fact she only knew because she had Archer's memories from Heaven's feel. Also feel like I should point out that while it has been about a week in _Torment_ it hasn't even gone on to the next day in _Rebirth_ to show the difference in times

_I feel I must also point out that the convo-quote is from Princess Bride since no one guessed_

Chapter 4

-Once again the words 'eat' and 'devour' to describe Assassin's powers and saying she could absorb Servants

-Can cast a few spells because she's an actual magus

-If a Servant is too strong it will kill her(destroy her consciousness like what was almost happening to Sakura but only her love for Shirou kept it from happening for a long time)

- "circumstances arose, promises were broken, torture on a level very few would be able to even imagine" circumstances being Ilya and what just happened, promises being what Archer showed her, torture being both the worm thing we all know Sakura went through and AM being in her brain

-Talking about the consequences if she absorbed Gilgamesh-end result Heaven's Feel which once again she knew about from Archer

-Shirou having a crush on Sakura. I just had to have him like Assassin to play with once he found out

Chapter 5

-Gilgamesh's gauntlet. Imagine poison meeting acid. That's what I did. As I said earlier, Assassin is extra vulnerable to anything involving AM

-It's stated that Assassin's skin turns black from the remnants of the curse and when Archer was removing Sakura's curse a black aura was trying to poison him. She removes the curse from herself the same way she removed it from Sakura and similar to how Archer removed it

-Couldn't borrow a weapon from Archer because they were all made of mana and she would drain them before she could even strike once(needles may or may not be explained later)

-First mention of it actually being Angra Mainyu that caused Assassin problems. I thought the name would instantly guide people to Sakura even if it had been removed from her

-Lancer trying to go into Sakura to remind everyone that she's an active grail and Sakura hugging Archer with the Servant being drained by it

-Assassin saying the real reason she decided to be reborn-Shirou's mother died in childbirth. Meaning Assassin had to be younger than Shirou.(Just as a reminder, Ilya was eight when the previous war happened and I'm pretty sure Shirou was seven so she's actually older than him but doesn't look it)

-"You know, you've never been able to sneak up on me." Playing with Sakura sneaking up on Shirou when he falls asleep during training

-Needing to kill people to regenerate. She needed power to feed the grail within her to regenerate

-I figured Harpe would have been one of the blades Gilgamesh used to try to kill Sakura in Heaven's Feel and she was able to regenerate from it.

-Archer specifically talking about Assassin killing Sakura-referenced in the next chapter

-Assassin's reaction to Archer mentioning rituals that would have been useless after Ilya died

Chapter 6

-Sakura's grief making her realize things weren't going to be the way she was shown and blaming Shirou(Not a strong enough blow in my opinion but a good start with how fast everything else happens)

-Talking about being a grail again

-Had to disguise her eye color cause purple eyes are obvious

-Same with purple hair(Natural state being purple and down like she has at the funeral but isn't actually described cause that would draw away from my taunt at it being Rin)

-Once again, Assassin dismembering herself after Shirou knows who she is

-Assassin is someone Shirou thought was dead-ties into the funeral for making it seem like Rin and dismemberment for Sakura

-Archer being upset that Assassin is being cut up after he knows who she is-he did have a crush on Sakura after all

-Shirou and Saber reminding you of a few things to help you along

-Sakura unintentionally draining Shirou's mana from just touching(To bring to mind the fight with Gilgamesh)

-Sakura continuing to try and place blame

-Archer looking at Rin weird knowing that Assassin was her sister and not wanting to tell her because he was worried how she'd react

The three I'd been pushing at were Rin, Ilya, and Sakura XP wow that's a long list


	9. Chapter 8 Corruption

**And again it took me forever. In my defense I only got one review and I stumbled across the Fate Zero anime.**

**Of course I had to watch the whole thing but real life kept interfering.**

**I know a lot of people probably aren't happy with Assassin being Sakura, but anyone who has played the game knows she does go crazy under AM pretty easily. This just has her with a fragile attachment to Shirou going crazy so it's not too hard to go to this. I was going to use this chapter to go into more detail with her as well as a little thing I was leading to at the end of last chapter and show the comparison between them.**

**Then I remembered a loose end that I came up with an idea for I absolutely loved. The two storylines still have a tie between the events, just not the one I had intended.**

**And the little thing I was leading up to….I know people are going to hate that even more than Assassin being Sakura but I couldn't get the idea out of my head and since I'm getting no reviews anyways there's not too many people to object.**

**Plus, in my opinion it makes things a hell of a lot more fun, then again, I love twisting things both in mind twist and in fucking characters over**

**I do feel that the first bit could've been done better but I couldn't come up with any better way to do it. I did my best, tried to convey what I was feeling, if you think you can do it better PM me and I may put in your rewrite for the first bit if it works better, I can't do any better and I know others can.**

**I know anyone still reading probably wanted to see Sakura's torture, I hope this works instead XD  
Also, I had to go in and do a bit of a text edit and place in the transfer to the next line, if it's awkward you'll know the point I'm talking about and if so I'm sorry, I just didn't have a better way to do it.  
**

**Torment of Rebirth**

Chapter 8

Corruption

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Shirou's Perspective_

_**Kill, kill, kill the world, slaughter the vermin and**__NO. I will not kill anyone. I am a hero__** Heroes kill people**__ I don't__** How will you save anyone if you allow those trying to hurt them to live?**__ I will find a way __**There is no way**__ There has to be a way. __**Kill them. Kill them all.**__ I am a Hero of Justice__** Justice is a lie. Nothing is fair, nothing is reasonable. Only one thing will truly save anyone. **__And what is that? __**Death. Death will set them free. Release them from the pain and suffering into a world where they will receive what they deserve. A world with true justice.**__I do not kill__**. Sure you do, you ordered your Saber to kill someone, that's the same as you killing him.**__He was hurting people. __**So it's okay to kill the villains. Let me kill the villains. Let me slaughter them like the rats they are and destroy the filth that corrupts the world. **__And what do you consider filth?__** Anyone that hurts someone else. **__What if they…__**Kill hunt, feed, save, rubbish, filth, slime, muck, **__STOP IT __**kill them all and leave no one, end the world and still not done **__That is not a hero__** It's a hero that saves everyone from pain**__ I want everyone to be happy__** They can be happy to be dead. The whole world burns and no one can see it. Their life is suffocating them as their bodies are being reduced to ash. Person after person caring only for themselves and those rare few willing to help others are killed by those they help. In the end every one falls, crushed by the world around them and charred beyond recognition. Family doesn't matter, love doesn't matter, happiness doesn't matter. All they do is make it more painful in the end. Better to bring the end now then let them suffer. Stop ignoring their pain and end it. End it end it end it END IT END IT END IT ENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITSAVETHEMENDITENDITENDITENDITENDIT.**_

_**Stop their pain.**_

Caster could only hide behind her equipment as the boy's laughter filled the room. Gilgamesh's countless treasures were reproduced and shot all around. She knew for a fact that the Priest was dead and Gilgamesh was nowhere to be seen. Since her command seal hadn't faded, she guessed Rider was still alive but how she had no idea nor any as to where the Gorgon had disappeared to or what state she was in.

Then the laughter stopped.

Caster turned to look, expecting to have to stand slightly to look over her apparatus. She didn't.

Her lab was not what was now in front of her.

What she saw was an endless landscape. The sky was almost entirely black except for a red light in the distance. Caster placed her hand on the ground to push herself up but was met with an odd squelching sound and her hand felt like it separated some soft material. She looked down and was met with the familiar sight of disassembled bodies. Most were faceless but two she was able to distinguish.

The priest and Gilgamesh. Another was starting to form a face so the magus looked away. The bodies covered the endless landscape with a single hill and blades were struck into many of them. All the blades she had just shown the boy so she wouldn't lose Gilgamesh's treasury.

"They're waiting to be saved." She turned to the boy with a cringe. His skin had darkened considerably and a black ink-like substance was shifting along it, forming different runes and curses before changing shape, his eyes had turned red as the blood surrounding the body parts on the ground around him and his hair had changed color. The roots of his hair were as white as the Servant's who was supposed to be his future but the tips were as black as the curses shifting along his body, "I'll save them all, starting with you." He held his hand out and countless blades shot at her.

Caster's body fell into place where the image of her corpse had been.

"**Repulsive vermin that you are.**"

_Archer's Torment_

_Archer's Perspective_

The moment Emiya Shirou touched the gate of his home, Archer and Rider shot out of it. The command seal Sakura had used on them now used up. The girl had gone to the mansion in the woods. She wasn't safe. Rider got to the forest first-she was naturally faster-but she had gone off in a wrong direction. Archer got to the woods about the same time as a familiar black mist.

"No…" He muttered to himself and only sped up. The mist was faster. The sound that Archer heard made him pale. He had saved her. She wasn't supposed to go through this.

He arrived at the door just in time to be shot back by holy light. Blinded from the flash, Archer went for the door again. All he could see was the familiar shape of that figure falling. He caught her.

Archer stayed still for a moment, trying to get his vision back.

"That disgusting creature. Rubbish! Filth! Slime! Muck!" Archer regained his vision to see a one armed man in gold surrounded by blades aimed at the two. Suddenly the man froze, unable to move. Archer turned to find the source.

"Don't look at me." He turned away, trusting Rider's words, "None of you look at me." None? Sakura was asleep. Archer kept his eyes firmly on the girl, having already had to face the Gorgon once, "Focus on anything but me." He heard Rider sigh, "Archer, get the three of them out of here." He nodded, not looking at her and heading to the door with his head down. When he reached it he found out who she was talking about and the two were quite firmly staring in the same direction.

Apparently Shirou had followed the Servants and Ilya had been on her way home. He placed Sakura on his back, creating some rope to tie her in place before scooping Shirou and Ilya each up in one arm and running.

Even now he could feel the consciousness he pulled out of Sakura settle once more into her with a hiss at Archer. It had no power over her now but it may just have pull.

He had wasted enough time. Sakura needed to learn to control her abilities as a grail now.

_Assassin's Rebirth_

_Assassin's Perspective_

As Assassin landed she mused over the remnants of the taint, _kill_, she knew that letting Gilgamesh dissolve rather than destroying any trace of the tainted king was a risk but _Kill_ the Servant could tell that there was still a good amount of its consciousness _**Kill!**_left in the world despite how much she had been purifying it. The taint within _**KILL!**_ her was even reacting to it.

Assassin knelt down to where Gilgamesh had fallen, her hand already glowing with one of the two abilities melded to her soul rather than the body of Matou Sakura.

And she cursed.

In the place that should have been _**SLAUGHTER MAIM TORTURE END KILL KILL KILL**_ covered with the remaining particles of Gilgamesh's existence was only a minor taint, not nearly enough for if the King had truly been obliterated. There was even a trail she could sense if only because _**END IT ALL DESTROY KILL MAIM FEED KILL KILL **_the consciousness within her was growing because of it. Assassin placed the holy light she held against the ground and stood, letting the light follow the trail of Angra Mainyu as she moved to the side _**Torment pain end**_ of it. The further the corrupted Matou traveled, the more she was starting to regret leaving Gilgamesh to fade.

Because she was obviously moving towards Ryudou temple. Odds are the mountain_ destroy crush hungry_ was once again Caster's territory. Just as Assassin reached the stairs, Rider shot out of the gate, followed closely by Saber. Then she felt it.

_**KILL SLAUGHTER MAIM DESTROY MONGRELS FEED FEED FEED KILL HURTS END PAIN KILL DISMEMBER DISGUSTING CREATURES MUST END**_

Assassin grabbed her head and pulsed a small amount of the holy spell to ease the taint to her mind. As the voice died down she noted that the repetitive requests seemed to have a few additions to their normal violent intentions. The moment Archer appeared, another string of curses-these all directed towards the former redhead-appeared in her mind but as she was already diluting the consciousness within her, Assassin barely noticed the most practiced of the Evil's lines.

Archer frowned at Assassin as he noticed her, an odd mix of anger, worry, regret, pain, and caring within his eyes for the moment he focused on his former house-mate. Assassin jumped to the top of the steps in one go, meeting eyes with him with a smirk.

"Oh, sure. Now you show up." Assassin nearly chuckled as Rin growled this, stepping out of the trees, "What the hell were you doing?"

"I was going to make sure that Gilgamesh had fully vanished, apparently not." As Assassin spoke, reality shifted leaving three bodies and a single living being. Caster's mangled corpse degenerated rapidly while the priest's dismembered body laid in a heap. Gilgamesh, however, was being held up by a dark hand. The others were confused, but Assassin could tell exactly what was going on.

She knew well the signs Emiya Shirou gave off when his magical circuits were being overworked and had long since begun the habit of analyzing the state of them when he showed these signs. His circuits were melting within his body from the strain of whatever happened, every time a circuit would collapse the black substance on his skin would shift to rebuild it but obviously for the goals of the consciousness she could feel inside him, Shirou needed more mana. With a distant blood-relative right next to the boy, the obvious choice was to take the circuits within the fallen King of Heroes and drag them into the boy-which was what he was doing now-the former Servant had lasted a long time after being given human form by the tainted grail so obviously he had quite a bit. The extra taint being pulled into the boy would only serve as a bonus.

Assassin frowned and charged the holy light she held, the boy may be too tainted to save and her past self still deeply cared for him. A glance at the state of his body showed the weak point. Though one arm was holding Gilgamesh, the other held a cloth wrapped around it. That must be where the taint originated in his body, if she could block that maybe he could be purified before it got any worse. Assassin pulled out her undamaged glove from her previous outfit and soaked it in the hold light.

"Looks like I have to kill myself, wonderful." Archer smirked.

"No, what you need to do is use Rule Breaker." His eyes widened and he looked at Assassin, "Soon it'll move through the command seal and get to Saber. If Rin can support both of you, connect it to her, otherwise yourself. Rider is also now Masterless though given the state she's been forced into, it may be a blessing to her to be freed." Archer frowned and looked at Shirou.

"Can you take care of him on your own?" He asked worriedly. Assassin smirked to herself.

"How many times did I hold my own against you? Neither of the minds within him know how to truly control his powers yet and I know more than I need to about Angra Mainyu." He frowned then nodded, turning to go after Saber.

Assassin shot forward towards the boy, improvised holy bandage in her hand.

However, when she got close red eyes met hers and a hand shot to grab her by her neck. Fortunately her bevor kept any direct contact from happening to spread the taint into her directly though she could feel it slowly slipping into the material of her armor.

"You." The boy said as the last of Gilgamesh dissolved into his being, the black on his skin shifting rapidly to adjust the circuits within his body "**I **know y**ou**." She felt his mana starting to pour into her armor as if to reinforce it, "**Be honored, dog. Your King **has a **use f**or you." Too much mana was poured in and her bevor shattered, shards of it embedding itself into his skin and her neck before his hand shot forward to get a firm grip on her neck directly. Black started to spread along her neck as their blood mixed, "Feed for **me**." His lips met hers and shoved black corruption into her very being.

_**Feed feed hungry slaughter pain feed FOOD RATS PAIN KILL FEED KILL KILL FEED KILL PAIN KILL FEED HUNGRY PAIN KILL DEVOUR MONGRELS PAIN KILL KILL KILL END HUNGRY HUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRY  
HUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRY  
HUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRY  
HUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRYHUNGRY**_

_Archer's Torment_

_Saber's Perspective_

The Servant of the sword had searched day and night for her Master with no luck. The more she looked, the more she panicked as the last time someone had been abducted when she was away the woman had ended up dead. Saber couldn't help but feel she was failing again. Shirou wasn't the grail as Irisviel had been and yet he had still been taken.

The one place she had left to look was the place she had appeared years ago to tell Kiritsugu she had failed. Only now it held two Servants. If anyone was likely to claim a Master, it was definitely Caster though. Who knew what kind of experiments a Magus from the past could use her Master for; fortunately Rider had already told her a few details about the pair on the mountain.

So Saber was not surprised as she ran up the stairs to meet a swordsman.

She was, however, surprised when the next step she took after spotting him froze her entire body.

Magic should not work on her so easily; only true magic or a dragon slaying sorcery should be able to affect her this much.

"Amazing that it worked, two thirds god indeed." Caster muttered to herself as she walked out from the gate. Saber glared as she had been unable to do anymore, "Quite the fortunate timing, you will make an excellent bargaining chip." The woman held her hand up and spoke a few words. The glowing red circle on the ground below Saber rose then adjusted itself so it was on her body, "We have much to prepare for."

_Assassin's Rebirth _

_Rin's Perspective_

'_Can you handle another Servant or should I have her be mine? She'd be weaker being a Servant of a Servant but there's not much else we can do at the moment.'_ Rin frowned. She was being offered the chance to have Saber, exactly what she had wanted. Could she handle it though?

'_Give her to me; I'll use jewels to cover if necessary.'_ She would make sure she could.

As Archer passed her to go claim Saber, Rin watched the Servant attack Shirou. She couldn't tell what was wrong with him but she could sense that he was unstable. Rin frowned; she just might have to kill him if whatever Assassin was doing didn't work.

Her eyes widened as he caught the speeding Servant and held her up, apparently stronger than her. If the battle with Gilgamesh had been any indication, Assassin wouldn't want to risk absorbing energy from Shirou at the moment so she was left with little she could do.

And then….he kissed her. Well, more like he broke the part of her armor covering her face, choked the shit out of her with shards of said armor stabbing into both his hands and her neck, then kissed her but still. Shirou kissed her. Apparently he was fated to be either a pedophile or a grave robber.

Rin shook her head of those thoughts as Assassin's whole body seemed to be turning black. Whatever was about to happen, it probably wasn't good.

'_I'd hurry up if I was you, she's…'_ Rin's thought was cut off as suddenly her circuits flared.

'_On our way.'_ Was Archer's response.

As Shirou pulled away, Assassin screamed in a way that sent chills down Rin's spine. Shirou dropped Assassin and shadows around the Servant started to shift.

Rin's eyes widened. _No._

The black in Assassin's skin had covered all but her eyes, the mask she wore pushing against the taint. The mask burned away. As soon as the Servant's whole body was covered it faded, leaving her pale.

But without the mask distorting her face, even pale Rin could recognize it. She knew those dull purple eyes. _No._

Assassin roared, making a sound similar to what she had heard from Berserker and turned to Rin.

"Sakura…." Rin muttered as purple eyes stared at her. It only lasted a moment, the next black and red strips of cloth-like mana shot for her.

It was knocked away by an arrow it quickly absorbed.

"Rin, get back." Archer said, standing beside her as Saber rushed forward.

"That's Sakura." Rin muttered.

"I know." Archer frowned, staring at what had become of his crush.

"That's my sister!" Rin shouted at him, "That's Sakura!"

"And if we can get her back, we will. Unfortunately, I never found out how to purify her like the Archer of my time did." Archer muttered as he watched Saber dodging the absorbing tendrils.

"Don't give me that! Save my sister!" Archer frowned as he felt a command seal being activated.

Then he projected his favorite swords to block the blades launched at him by the tainted Master.

Said Master was staring at him like a piece of food.

_Archer's Torment_

_Gilgamesh's Perspective_

Those mongrels would pay! To force a King to cut off his own arm was punishable by death. And die they would, Gilgamesh would make sure they suffered every moment he permitted the vermin to live before dying in the worst agony he could imagine for them. The world was his garden, everything belonged to him. He would destroy those who opposed him as was his right.

No one disobeys the King.

It was about that moment that Gilgamesh realized he wasn't in the pile of rubble he had been rendered unconscious in. His arm ached….well, the place his arm should have been ached.

No, sitting up Gilgamesh realized that in fact his arm did ache. He had no idea how his arm had been restored so fast as the King had doubted that it could be restored at all.

"King of Uruk, it is an honor to meet you." He glanced over to the voice to see a Servant bowing at him. Gilgamesh sat up, "I hope my accommodations were to your liking."

"The bed was not soft enough. If I ever permit you to house me again see that you fix it." The woman nodded as Gilgamesh tested his arm.

"I restored it, I fear it cost a bit of your blood and a Servant I controlled, but I felt it was worth it." He could hear the smirk in her voice.

"I gave you no permission to make use of my blood whether its use was in restoring my arm or not. Do you have a way to compensate me for it?" Gilgamesh demanded. None could make use of his possessions without his prior permission.

"I do, King of Heroes, though I fear I had to use more of your blood to obtain it." Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed as the woman gestured behind him. Skeptically he turned around before his eyes widened and he smirked, "I have a Noble Phantasm that will allow me to break prior contracts and reassign them. Tell me, how would you like to be Saber's Master?"

**Hehehehehehehehehehehe, I never did say Saber actually returned, and if she had then she wouldn't have allowed Rider to put a nail to Shirou's throat. In case it wasn't obvious, Caster sacrificed her Assassin to give Gil(Cause I'm getting fucking tired of typing it out) his arm back in hopes that Gil would team up with her while having Saber under his control. If those three fought together they'd probably pwn the world. Besides, I couldn't have Gil actually be bad enough to cause Assassin to panic if he lost his arm that early, even if it did involve shoving his hand into her chest.**

**I know it's obvious that Shirou and Assassin's taint from AM is different. That's because Shirou's is from Gil himself and I tried to make it show. His taint is from an existence that was so independent AM couldn't possess him and instead spit him out. That is the only strong source other than Kotomine that Assassin hadn't destroyed besides the greater grail itself. For Sakura, the consciousness that Archer removed from her was released into the air after being pushed out of both her and Archer. It wasn't destroyed so when Gil created an opening, the consciousness itself found her and inserted itself. I did make sure to explain that bit in this chapter even if I did move to another plot point before going back to her.**

**And yes, I know taking the Shirou from that time and basically doing the same thing I did to Sakura from the earlier one is being repetitive, but I felt that Assassin wasn't being a good enough bad guy and I was reading a fanfic that said there were no good evil Shirous…..I don't expect them to think mine is but it made me want to try and I had a perfect chance in here. Besides, I just wanna see the chaos I can bring from having an evil Shirou with Assassin as his berserk dog XP And the contrast may be fun to play with**

**I'm debating doing a dream sequence for Sakura going into Assassin in the next chapter to explain where the abilities that don't come from the girl do come from and in order to explain how said abilities work since obviously at the moment we're not gonna be getting anything from Assassin, then again the Sakura that becomes Assassin now has access to some of those memories again so maybe I can do it that way.**

**On a side note, I did put in a few things I learned from Fate Zero, sorry if it was spoiled for you. I am making it so that you can still understand without seeing it with just little things for those who do know it.**

**Anyways, I would appreciate reviews. They make things more fun! If not I may just screw things over even more to test my writing abilities XP  
Or, you could review saying I should just screw things over even more to test my writing abilities :)**

**Reviews are loved, let me know what you think please. Maybe if my writing's good enough that one author may notice but she(Not actually sure but seems like one) won't if I have no reviews XP**


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